Member-only story
Space Force
There was a time I knew something about ranks and insignias. My father was Navy. He rose to E8-Senior Chief before he retired. I was in ROTC in high school, and knew what I needed to know- way back when. That was 1984 to 1986, so I guess it’s okay I didn’t retain it. Like my piano skills, if you don’t use it, it goes away. Due to severe asthma as a child/adolescent, I wasn’t able to follow my father into the military. I would just dream of service- in Star Trek styles Space Force… A video by Battle Order breaks down the new ranks and insignias, and I am glad I am not the only one who sees Star Trek in the design. The video also suggests, Battlestar Galactica has influenced this art. Insignia is art, right?
Battle Order has a nice history lesson for the evolution of insignias, going back to the beginning of the Air Force. I wonder if it is difficult to believe for some of the younger folks that the Air Force used to not exist. Both the Army and the Navy had their own planes. Who would have thought airplanes and dominating the sky would necessitate it’s own division? Though there has always been a conception of the high ground, I suspect for the most part- warfare has been rather two dimensional for too long.
Fighter pilots are masters of thinking three-dimensionally. Even the simplest maneuver requires you to consider the vertical in…
