Airborne Patch
Thursday, October 21st, 2010Question For those in the US Military?
On the ACU uniforms where do the patches on the left and right arms mean and where are they positioned?
For example (please correct if wrong): If you were in the 101st Airborne i think the Airborne patch goes on the right arm and just above that is either a color or infrared US flag. But i have know idea whats on the left arm. Is it just the airborne patch and no flag? Why is there no flag on the left arm? Thanks!
Flag is traditionally worn on right arm only.
Your left shoulder patch is the patch of the unit you currently belong to. You may wear tabs above that patch for certain qualifications, like Ranger. (Airborne and Mountain refer to the unit, not to a qualification, when worn on the left shoulder directly above the patch.)
You only wear a patch on your right shoulder if you have served in a combat zone. This is the "combat patch." You wear the patch of the unit you belonged to when you deployed to a combat zone. If you've deployed several times, with several units, you can wear whichever one you want on your right shoulder.
A lot of times, people wear the same patch on both shoulders. That just means they are still serving in a unit they deployed to a combat zone with.