speagle

La Verne, California PD

Birmingham, England

Swedish Police (Note skies on the motor)

Ed

Found an old photo of US Air Force Air Police motorcycle officers you might enjoy.

Anybody else have any to share?

Ed

Ed

Very interesting and an excellent identification reference for those of us who spent most of our time in a trench! Thanks for posting.

Simon

Thanks Simon. I hope many members will enjoy/benefit from the site.

Thanks again

Ed

Hope you find this interesting and enjoyable.

http://www.aviastar.org/index2.html

Ed

Here is a picture of my Uncle in his uniform. He was in WW II, 1941-43

Ed

Aberdeen, Maryland

Ed,

Please post them Im sure there are big collections out there and if we get a good response we can get the topic pinned.

best

Craig

Craig et all:

Give me a couple of days and I'll see what I can come up with. All my images are singles so I'll have to put some groupings together. Thanks for the encouragement. In the meantime, here is my home state police patch

Ed

Craig - I missed these before - nice souvenirs and attractive designs. Pity about the Kepi though !

Ed - why don't you try about 10 to a picture - and show a few at a time ? I don't know much about space - but, why not ask Nick .

Hi Mervyn,

I may do that later (ask Nick).

Ed

And finally a Patch from the French National Police. A group of French officers spent the day on patrol with us. At the end of the shift to thank us and with the full encouragement of there senior officers they tried to give us their Kepis. We were more that happy to swap these for our helmets but our senior officers wouldn't allow it so all we got were the patches.

You offer a challenge that I have thought about posting for some time but believe the powers to be wouldn't allow me to use the space. I collect police department shoulder patches (civilian and military) and currently have a "world wide" collection consisting of 1600+ patches. Would REALLY like to share the images, but, as I said, I'm sure I wouldn't get the clearance to share all of them.

Anyway, Thanks for sharing. It's a GREAT hobby. Here are a couple of examples for your viewing pleasure:

BTW: If anybody has some extra patches they don't want laying around, drop me a line and let's see what we can do.

Ed

Archer!

FANTASTIC presentations! Thanks so much for your time and efforts to share with us. VERY enjoyable. Looking forward to seeing more.

Ed

Thought this might be an interesting side comment on a couple of programs we have in the U.S.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_Enforcement_Exploring

http://www.ehow.com/about_6631491_police-cadet-job-description.html

Ed

Very nice.

Thanks for sharing.

What did your group think of it?

Ed

Hello all, I have been researching a small medal group to a Naval Aviator (Blimp Pilot). It seems to me there were not a whole lot of them. I saw one statement that by 1944 - 1,500 Officers were trained for Lighter Than Air (LTA) service. I would guess maybe 2,000 by Wars end. Any help would be appreciated. Cheers Captain Albert

Check this out. May be of some help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirigible_Pilot_Badge

Ed

REF #30:

The oak leaf cluster on the silver star ribbon bar is upside down. The correct positioning is shown on the medal ribbon itself.

Ed

All of them - absolutely amazing ! OK - one or two are cliches in their design, but the majority are very well done. I can understand the attraction in collecting them - however, I have to say - why am I not surprised that the USAF have one as a bottle opener........

REF #89:

I KNOW you're just waiting for a response---so---here it is:

We just want to be prepared when we "drop in" and save all those "Jar Heads" and "Grunts"

See ya

Ed

"GREETINGS & SALUTATIONS!"

Have many of the booklets/catalogues of BB&B at http://picasaweb.goo...1942?feat=email (Booker's Free Web Library) you can download for free and use however you wish! Respectfully yours, Sarge Booker of Tujunga (booker1942@yahoo.com)

REF #4:

FANTASTIC selections! Thanks for sharing!

Ed

As you can see by the items on the coin, this represented acknowledgement to a specific group (Task Force 214) who were involved in the security (land and air) and the transport of Minuteman missles stationed at Francis E. Warren AFB, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

That's it for now.

More in a few days

Ed

This one is actually a bottle opener too.

More from Ed:

REF #6:

Neil was in fact in the US Navy:

Navy service

Armstrong's call-up from the Navy arrived on January 26, 1949, and required him to report to Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight training. This lasted almost 18 months, during which time he qualified for carrier landing aboard the USS Cabot and USS Wright. On August 12, 1950, a week after his 20th birthday, he was informed by letter he was now a fully qualified Naval Aviator.^[11]

His first assignment was to Fleet Aircraft Service Squadron 7 at NAS San Diego (now known as NAS North Island). Two months later he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 51 (VF-51), an all-jet squadron. He would make his first flight in a jet, an F9F-2B Panther on January 5, 1951. Six months later, he made his first jet carrier landing on the USS Essex. The same week he was promoted from midshipman to ensign. By the end of the month, the Essex had set sail with VF-51 aboard, bound for Korea, where they would act as ground-attack aircraft.^[12] He made over 600 flights in a variety of aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

Armstrong first saw action in the Korean War on August 29, 1951, as an escort for a photo reconnaissance plane over Songjin^[13]. Later, on September 3, 1951, Armstrong flew armed reconnaissance, with the principal targets being freight yards and a bridge on a narrow valley road south of the village of Majon-ni, west of Wonsan. While he was making a low bombing run at about 350 mph (560 km/h), Armstrong's F9F Panther sliced through a cable strung across the valley by the North Koreans at a height of about 500 ft (150 m). This sheared off an estimated six feet (2 m) of its right wing^[14]. Armstrong was able to fly the plane back to friendly territory, but could not land the plane safely due to the loss of the aileron, which left ejection as his only option. He planned to eject over water and await rescue by navy helicopters, so he flew to an airfield near Pohang. Instead of a water rescue, winds forced his ejection seat back over land^[15]. Armstrong was picked up by a jeep driven by a roommate from flight school. It is unknown what happened to the wreckage of No. 125122 F9F-2.^[16]

Armstrong flew 78 missions over Korea for a total of 121 hours in the air, most of which was in January 1952. He received the Air Medal for 20 combat missions, a Gold Star for the next 20, and the Korean Service Medal and Engagement Star.^[17] Armstrong left the navy at the age of 22 on August 23, 1952, and became a Lieutenant, Junior Grade in the United States Naval Reserve. He resigned his commission in the Naval Reserve on October 20, 1960.^[18]

^{++++++++++++++++++++==}

^{More info at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong#Navy_service}

^Ed

O.K. Les,

I will try to answer a lot of questions with one post.

Regarding the officialness of coins and how to tell. In many cases but certainly not all, coins will be numbered to the recipient (the bottom coin on the right of my post with many coins) I believe the unit holds the roster of whom has received a coin. As far as e-bay is concerned, yes there are many commemoratives, but most soldiers don't care about these. We value those presented to us by Command Sergeant Majors or Colonels and Generals.

As for the FBI coin, I received it from the Baghdad Station Chief as a form of recognition for services rendered to his teams in OIF 1. I was part of an official ceremony where I received the coin, a patch and some other items, much like a change of station ceremony or a retirement. Basically, they were honoring me and a few others for the assistance we provided them during missions. While certainly not a medal, I doubt you will find this coin anywhere else and I value it quite highly. Many times factors such as cross service missions or missions involving civilian agencies prevent or seriously impede the recognition of good deeds. So, coins can often fill the void and ensure that the soldier is recognized while awaiting the possibility of a higher form of recognition.

In regards to Military Police vs Civilian Police, this is tricky. As an M.P. I had jurisdiction over military personnel in civilian environments. I patrolled the local towns where bases were located and worked closely with civilian authorities. If there was an incident involving soldiers and civilians, I would be tasked to resolve that situation on both ends and detain the civilians if necessary. So I would maintain that we are police officers as well. Perhaps it is different in the U.K. but in the U.S. we work with many civilian agencies, locally, state and federally.

I think Mervyn really has the right idea with this thread as the coins are interesting and there are many types to be seen. I posted some of my non police coins so Mervyn could see the styles and types available. I would also mention that one of the coins I posted is from my State Governor, it is given to military, legislative, police, fire, and others who the Governor chooses to recognize. So, could it be police, civil, military??? I guess Nick moving the topic is best for all.

Hope this answers some of the questions.

Scott.

REF #30:

Good explanation Scott. Thanks for your input.

Ed

A good place to keep an eye on is the Institute of Heraldry web site. They design the insignia and over the last couple of years have been posting color drawings of the latest SSI and D.U. I. that have been authorized. My link

Thanks for the reminder. I haven't used it for awhile.

Ed

Hi Ed,

Thanks for the additional info on the 'Official' nature of some of these coins, it's appreciated.

So ,you know what the next question is going to be , yes ,you guessed it .

How do you know which coins are 'official' and which ones are made up for the collectors market?

I don't know anything about the collecting of these items as they don't fit with any of my collecting interests, but just wondered if there is a way to tell.

One last question, why would you want to have a section on a Military related Forum for all challenge coins that aren't related to the Military?

I would have thought that there must be a general collecting Forum out there somewhere, but maybe not as I can't find one that just deals with Police insignias:)

Regards,

Les

REF #25:

Hi Les,

I'll try to answer to your satisfaction.

First, their is no REAL way to tell if a coin has been received in an official ceremony, other than to accept the word of the owner (just as we do for military decorations) and we all know sometimes that isn't always true unfortunately.

Second, my suggestion to have a general Challenge Coin Forum topic was meant to stand independently, not within the Military or Police areas, yet still be of general interest to all. Again, it was just a suggestion.

Thanks for your comments

Ed