Military Insignia Identification: These photos are from 1945/46. The were taken by my father upon his return to San Francisco after his time in the navy was up. I am interested in the...

jmdenver Loc: Colorado

These photos are from 1945/46. The were taken by my father upon his return to San Francisco after his time in the navy was up. I am interested in the two insignias. One appears on the shoulder of the man on the far left looking roughly at the camera. Another insignia appears in the second photo on the cap of the man looking at the camera.(also on the left side of the photo.) Any help identifying these would be greatly appreciated. For those of you who know San Francisco, the skyline has changed a bit since these were taken; however, you can still identify some landmarks. If you look carefully, you can see the spires of Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill in the background and Coit Tower, both are visible in the second photo.

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RAR_man Loc: stow, MA

shoulder patch is Army Air Corps (predecessor to today's Air Force)

The hat insignia is US Army officer's cap insignia. Issued to all officers.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

The shoulder patch is the US Army Air Corp patch. It does not denote a particular unit, only that the person wearing it is a member of the Army Air Corp. The fellow with the white hat is a US Navy officer. The stripes on his sleeve indicate that he is a Lt Commander. Same as a Major in the other branches of our military.
As already stated, the fellow in the 2nd picture is a US Army officer.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Excellent 75 year old color photo's. As far as the insignias, your guess is as good as mine.

JR45 Loc: Montgomery County, TX

The left shoulder patch appears to be a squadron patch for an air group,
possible Army. I can't tell about the cap insignia, but could be an award
of some sort.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

The name was United States Army Air Force after June 1941 and they got more separated in the command structure which eventually led to the Air Force splitting off in Sep 1947 as a separate branch.
The Naval Officer is a Lt Commander and the Army officer in the second photo is wearing a flight jacket so he was probably an Army Air Force officer unless is was "acquired" out of channels.
When I was in the Army 66-69 it didn't seem to matter what was issued or how it looked "someone" would modify or swap for something else because it was cool or something.

jmdenver Loc: Colorado

Thank you all for your quick responses! I appreciate all the info.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

robertjerl wrote:

The name was United States Army Air Force after Ju... (show quote)

And before anyone says the Army officer might not be Air Force just because of the jacket - well not many places in the Pacific Theater that ground troops needed cold weather gear but air crew, esp in high flying bombers got up where it was cold.
Also he and a couple others in the two photos their caps have what was called a "mission crush" by many from air crew putting their head phones on over the cap some would cut or completely remove the wire stiffener that made them look more or less like the Lt Commander's hat. It made the headphones fit more comfortably. As late as the 60s we had guys remove the wire to get that look.

sr71 Loc: In Col. Juan Seguin Land

JR45 wrote:

The left shoulder patch appears to be a squadron patch for an air group,
possible Army. I can't tell about the cap insignia, but could be an award
of some sort.

No awards are worn on the cap...

Amielee Loc: Eastern Washington State

In the photo the officer looking at the camera is wearing the "over seas cap" and there is a hint of the gold braid on the left side of the cap. The rank on his shoulder appears to be that of a first lieutenant and officers wore their rank on that cap also, and that looks like a first lieutenant's rank badge. The man, however, appears to be to old to be a first lieutenant and maybe a lieutenant colonel.
The man wearing the field jacket appears to have an Army Air Corps badge on the jacket and it may indicated the unit he belonged to (ie 4th Air Force, 8th Air Force etc.) but it is to indistinct to tell. A close look at WWII unit insignia may give a hint from the shape of the wings on the badge.

bamfordr Loc: Campbell CA

LFingar wrote:

The shoulder patch is the US Army Air Corp patch. It does not denote a particular unit, only that the person wearing it is a member of the Army Air Corp. The fellow with the white hat is a US Navy officer. The stripes on his sleeve indicate that he is a Lt Commander. Same as a Major in the other branches of our military.
As already stated, the fellow in the 2nd picture is a US Army officer.

The picture is pretty grainy. Could the Navy LCDR be a Coast Guard officer?

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Amielee wrote:

In the photo the officer looking at the camera is ... (show quote)

Only in our modern military are Lts so young they need a note from Mommy to be out on their own.
World War II the draft went up to age 45. Then you have NCO's who got field commissions, reservists etc. In the pre-war military you had officers retire at 1st Lts and Captains.

Amielee Loc: Eastern Washington State

Yes that is true. As a very old brown shoe army vet I guess I forgot that.

RichinSeattle

robertjerl wrote:

And before anyone says the Army officer might not be Air Force just because of the jacket - well not many places in the Pacific Theater that ground troops needed cold weather gear but air crew, esp in high flying bombers got up where it was cold. ...

As noted above, both are US Army Air Force (not Corps) insignia. The second pic shows an officer - most likely a pilot - wearing his fur-lined flight jacket. Here's a pic from Wikipedia of Gen. "Hap" Arnold, commander of the USAAF during and immediately after the war.

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LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

bamfordr wrote:

The picture is pretty grainy. Could the Navy LCDR be a Coast Guard officer?

Possible. By the end of WWII the Coast Guard and Navy uniforms were almost identical. Insignia and pins were the main way of identifying each. Odds are it's a Naval officer in the photo simply because there were so many more Naval officers then Coast Guard at the time. Still, he could be Coast Guard.