Parachutist badge
Since the end of conscription in France, the PMP Badge is awarded to prospective soldiers in airborne units after a 4-week course.
The Operational Free Fall Badge is part of the pipeline training for special forces and for commando platoons within the Airborne units.
The High-altitude Parachute Instructor (French: Brevet d'instructeur au saut en ouverture commandée retardée (INSOCR)) is awarded to long-serving NCO in airborne units wishing to become jumpmasters in Free Fall jumping.
All graduates must have finished the Operational Free Fall course and serve some years in an airborne unit using HALO/HAHO techniques.
The Military Parachuting Initiation Badge is awarded to graduates of a short course at the (Army) Airborne School, where the only students are Air Force cadets.
[2] Since 14 December 2021, Hungarian Defence Forces parachute-qualified personnel are permitted to wear an embroidered version of the 1940 skull and crossed knives badge again.
The special forces, which form part of the Parachute Regiment, have a distinct insignia called Balidaan, which has a commando dagger point downwards, with upward-extending wings extending from the blade and a scroll superimposed on the blade with "Balidaan" inscribed in Devanagari; the whole in silver metal on an upright red plastic rectangle.
In 1941, after the creation of the UK-trained 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, a similar symbol was adopted as the sign of all Polish paras.
The Spanish Air Force instituted in 1946 their own uniform regulations,[11] which included the parachutist badge known as Rokiski, awarded to all the soldiers who completed the Basic Airborne Course in the Paratrooper Military School (Escuela Militar de Paracaidismo) "Méndez Parada" along with the title of Paratrooper Hunter (Cazador Paracaidista).
[15] The original Parachutist Badge was designed in 1941 by Lieutenant General (then Captain) William P. Yarborough and approved by the Department of the Army in March of that year.
Troops of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), a former parachute unit, continued to wear the garrison cap with patch until the black beret was adopted Army-wide except for of organizations already wearing maroon (Airborne) or green (Special Forces) berets, and or switched from black to tan (Ranger).
During WWII, despite being against uniform regulations it became common for U.S. Marine Corps paratroopers who were issued the silver U.S. Army Basic Parachutist badge to wear the gold Navy Certified Parachute Rigger badge because they believed the gold "Rigger wings" looked better on their uniform.
[16] This unauthorized wear of the Parachute Rigger badge became so common that in July 1963 the Commander of United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance Bruce F. Meyers sent a request to Chief of Naval Operations Admiral George W. Anderson Jr. via Marine Corps Commandant General David M. Shoup requesting to officially make the Navy Parachute Rigger badge the parachutist badge for the Navy and Marine Corps.
In the Argentinian Army, personnel who complete the basic parachutist training receive a badge consisting of a silver winged parachute.
These soldiers, and jump-qualified members of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, are entitled to wear the white leaf jump wings.
Foreign service members and all other graduates who complete the Canadian basic parachutist course will receive the red leaf jump wings.
