DUI Identification (WWII Army AF?)

[landsknechte]

This group of items came out of some stuff that my parents recently found amongst my grandfather's effects. I know the ribbon bar isn't his (he was in the 8th AF in Europe), but the DUI has me intrigued. Does anyone recognize it? I believe the Latin motto translates to "so that men may fly", which would lead me to believe that it's either for some sort of ground crew unit, or perhaps a training unit. Also, am I right in assuming that the blue ribbon is likely a Presidential Unit Citation ribbon minus the metal border that's normally there?

--Chris

[JBFloyd]

The DUI is for the Gulf Coast AAF Training Center, which handled advanced flight training.

[landsknechte]

The DUI is for the Gulf Coast AAF Training Center, which handled advanced flight training.

Cool.

Do you know where the Training Center was located?

[JBFloyd]

I believe the headquarters was located at Randolph Field (now Randolph AFB), San Antonio, Texas. However, the command covered several states and many small training fields and schools all along the Guld coast.

[landsknechte]

...also, would this be the DUI of an instructor / staff member, or might this be something that would have been worn by a student? My grandfather had some flight training at Randolph Field, and I'm curious to know whether or not this might be something that he wore (even if only briefly), or simply a memento.

Thanks,

--Chris

[JBFloyd]

In general, students were rarely considered as part of a unit while in training. They were in the pipeline between units, but were not "permanent party". As such, they probably would not wear the host unit's insignia.