What are the various badges worn by para commandos of the Indian Army apart from wings?

NEGI RK Thursday, November 10, 2022

What are the various badges worn by para commandos of the Indian Army apart from wings?

Here I will try to cover as much as possible badges worn by the Special Forces operatives.

BALIDAAN Badge: The name says it all which means sacrifice. This badge is earned after the completion of grueling probation of 3 months, which includes every punishment you can ever imagine.

PARA Wings: These paratrooper wings are earned after the completion of the 5 jumps from an aircraft at 13500ft which include 3-day jumps and 2 night jumps with complete battle gear.

Jump Indicator WIngs: This badge indicates how many successful jumps are completed by the respective paratrooper. One star denotes 25 jumps, two stars 50+ and three stars 100+.

DIVING Badge: This badge is earned by the operative after successful completion of the combat diving course from Diving School Kochi which is operated by the Indian Navy. This badge signifies that the diver is ready to take any kind of specialized underwater operations.

Combat Free-Fall Badge: The free-fall course requires at least 50 jumps from altitudes up to 33,500 feet to pass. Both HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) and HAHO (High Altitude High Opening) techniques are learned. Apart from the regular parachute badge, freefall jumpers wear a gold badge.

Special Group Badge (Mavericks): Para SF operatives who are deputed in the Special Frontier Force (SFF) wear the maverick badge. The maverick badge consists of a hand holding a knife in golden color and two straight golden wings protruding from it in a black background.

Rashtriya Rifles Badge: This badge denotes that the operative has served in a field area of J&K and was deputed into the Rashtriya Rifles, which is a counter-insurgency force and deals with terrorist and insurgency activities in th valley.

Sniper Badge :The Sniper Badge signifies the soldier is excellent marksman. who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than-usual ranges in any terrain.

CIJWS Badge: This Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School badge is earned after the completion of a course that specializes in unconventional warfare, especially counter-insurgency and guerrilla warfare. CIJWS is one of the premier counter-insurgency training institutions in the world.

HAWS Badge: This High Altitude Warfare School badge is awarded after the instructor level grading in the course which specializes in the snow–craft and winter warfare.

Commando Dagger Badge: The coveted Commando Dagger Badge is worn by the soldiers who excel at the Commando Training Course during their stay at Commando School, Belgaum. They are trained as Specialized Infantry Commandos known as “Ghatak” and trained in various modes of warfare like climbing, demolition, heliborne assault and Close Quarter Battles.

NSG Badge: This badge shows that personnel was deputed to the elite counter-terrorist force known as NSG(National Securit Guards) special response unit for urban warfare and hostage rescue.

Sky Marshal Badge: This badge is worn by a person who was deputed into the 52 Special Action Group of the NSG(National Security Guards). This 52 SAG trains the personnel to deal with Hijack Attempts on International Flights and they are specially equipped for the same.

US Military Freefall Parachutist Badge: The Military Freefall Parachutist Badge is a military badge of the United States Army and the United States Air Force awarded to qualified personnel as high-altitude military parachute specialists.

US Parachutist badge: The Parachutist Badge, also commonly referred to as "Jump Wings" is a military badge of the United States which awarded after the qualification of the Basic Airborne Course of the Airborne School of the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

US Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge: The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge is a military badge of the United States Armed Forces which recognizes those service members, qualified as explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians, who are specially trained to deal with the construction, deployment, disarmament, and disposal of high explosive munitions.

US Air Assault Badge: The Air Assault Badge is awarded by the U.S. Army for the successful completion of the Air Assault School. The course includes three phases of instruction involving U.S. Army rotary-wing aircraft: combat air assault operations; rigging and sling loading operations; and rappelling from a helicopter. .