More PC

At Randolph AFB, the T-37 and T-38 IPs all wore a patch on our left shoulders signifying the fact that we were Instructor Pilots.  It was a rather simple patch, with not very much sex or violence on it; but it was a patch that many of us were proud of.

Scan

Didn’t really think much about it, until the day “they” told us we had to take it off!

PIT (Pilot Instructor Training) came to Randolph sometime in 1972, after I graduated from UPT (pilot training).  So, it had been around for a while…

The reason “they” wanted us to remove this patch was, Navigator (Nav) and Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) Instructor training came to Randolph in 1988 or ’89, and “they” didn’t want them to feel bad.  Well, crap…

An effort was made to appeal the ruling from ‘on high,” but it fell upon deaf ears.  Then an initiative was undertaken to create a patch for ”those guys,’ so they could blend in – so they could ‘feel’ part of ‘the Team.’  I think the initiative came out of the Auger Inn (the bar).  Essentially the idea was to create a similar patch for them, recognizing their positions in Navigator Instructor Training and Weapons Systems Officer Instructor Training.  What we came up with was a patch of the same design, only with the “PIT” replaced with “NIT-WIT.”  That wasn’t well received either…

And so, with the influx of the new instructor programs, 18 years or so of tradition, and pride, was smeared – just like that… Fine, everybody now felt “warm and fuzzy,” except the pilots….

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