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The commander of such an establishment was re-designated as the "wing commander" (or Wg Comd). In the 1990s, the Canadian Forces Air Command (the post-1968 RCAF) altered the structure of those bases under its control, redesignating them as wings. The rank of wing commander continues to be used as a cadet rank at the Royal Military College of Canada. In official French Canadian usage, a wing commander's rank title was lieutenant-colonel d'aviation. A Canadian wing commander then became a lieutenant-colonel.
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The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) used the rank until the unification of the Canadian Forces (CF) in 1968, when army-type rank titles were adopted. Two thin red lines differentiate this one from the other.ĭuring 1941-45 Fighter Command's wing leaders (of wing commander rank) were also allowed to use their own initials as aircraft identification letters on their personal aircraft, e.g., Wing Commander Roland Beamont's personal Hawker Tempest, JN751, was coded "R-B", Wing Commander John Robert Baldwin's personal Hawker Typhoon was coded "J-B".Ī Pakistan Air Force wing-commander's rank insignia. The command pennant is two triangular command pennants used in the RAF. This is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulder of the flying suit or the casual uniform. The rank insignia is based on the three gold bands of commanders in the Royal Navy and consists of three narrow light blue bands over slightly wider black bands. In the Air Training Corps, a wing commander is the officer commanding of a wing.
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In current usage a wing commander is more likely to command a wing which is an administrative sub-division of a station. In the early years of the RAF, a wing commander commanded a flying wing, typically a group of three or four aircraft squadrons. The rank of wing commander has been used continuously since 1 August 1919. However, the rank title wing commander was chosen as wings were typically commanded by RAF lieutenant colonels and the term wing commander had been used in the Royal Naval Air Service. It was also suggested that RAF lieutenant colonels might be entitled reeves or wing-leaders. For example, the rank that later became wing commander would have been air commander.Īlthough the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on naval officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. In response to the proposal that the RAF should use its own rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. On 1 April 1918, the newly created RAF adopted its officer rank titles from the British Army, with Royal Naval Air Service commanders (titled as wing commanders) and Royal Flying Corps lieutenant colonels becoming lieutenant colonels in the RAF. The rank insignia of a Royal Naval Air Service wing commander 4.3 Civil Air Patrol (United States Air Force Auxiliary).
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