Landstuhl soldiers awarded new Air Force Space Badge

[unhappycamper]

Army Sgt. Paul Rumph, a soldier from Company C, 53rd Signal Battalion, is awarded the Air Force space badge by Lt. Col. Scott Geiger, the commander of the 53rd Signal Battalion, during a ceremony Thursday in a hangar on a small post near Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.


Landstuhl soldiers awarded new Air Force Space Badge
Ben Bloker / S&S

LANDSTUHL, Germany — A relatively new badge will probably elicit more than a few double takes and questions after 29 soldiers with a satellite communications unit were awarded the Air Force Space Badge at a ceremony Thursday.

The soldiers with Company C, 53rd Signal Battalion are now part of just 489 soldiers who can wear the Air Force badge since it was authorized for the Army in August 2006.

The futuristic-looking badge, subdued in black for wear on the Army Combat Uniform, was pinned on 26 soldiers with the company. Three other Company C soldiers earned the space badge but were unable to attend Thursday’s ceremony. The roughly 60-soldier unit is responsible for satellite communications and operates on a small post that’s home to several massive, white satellite dishes near Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

“When people come up to you and ask what that badge is — because there’s a lot of badge chasers in our little Army here — tell them what it’s about,” said Lt. Col. Scott Geiger, 53rd Signal Battalion commander. “Tell them what you had to do to get there. There’s a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, a lot of studying and a lot of sacrifice involved. It’s 12-hour shifts every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

To become eligible for the basic badge, soldiers had to complete a stand-alone course such as the satellite systems/network coordinators course and serve at least 12 months in an Army space cadre position. The 53rd Signal Battalion is one of the designated space units in the Army.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53847



uhc comment: Here's what the space badge looks like -->

Here's a 2004 article about it --> http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=15246