COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The 14th Flying Training Wing emblem has a lot of history attached to it and was not always designed how we see it today.
In 1972, The 14th FTW was temporarily presented the lineage and honors of the 14th Fighter Group. The emblem, designed for the 14th FG, was a simple black and white shield with the words “TO FIGHT TO DEATH” written in the scroll below the shield.
The 14th FG was a unit under the 14th Fighter Wing which eventually became the 14th FTW, stated Dr. Doris Crusoe, 14th FTW historian.
The 14th FW was inactivated Oct. 2, 1949, and re-designated the 14th Air Commando Wing on Aug. 1, 1968. The emblem designed for the 14th ACW looked very similar to today’s emblem with the words "Day and Night - Peace and War" in the scroll. The 14th ACW was inactivated on Sept. 30, 1971, and re-designated the 14th FTW on March 22, 1972, and then activated on June 1, 1972.
The 14th FTW emblem bears the Air Force’s colors - blue and yellow. Blue refers to the sky, as it is the primary theater of Air Force operations. Yellow refers to the sun and the excellence required of all Airmen. The two stylized aircraft in ascending flight symbolize the wing’s training mission. The gold stars indicate the essential expertise needed by Airmen to complete required tasks. The stars also refer to the numerals “1” and “4”, standing for the wing’s numerical designation. The shield commemorates the World War II and battle credits carried by the wing.
Since 1941, Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, has had many different missions throughout the years.
On July 1, 1969, the Air Force transferred Columbus AFB back to Air Training Command and to its original mission of training pilots, stated Dr. Crusoe. The first Undergraduate Pilot Training Class, UPT Class 71-01, began their training July 17, 1969.
Class 17-01 was the first group of student pilots at Columbus AFB given the opportunity to become a part of the Columbus AFB heritage, creating a very simple patch with the words “First of the Finest” on the patch. Many classes followed Class 17-01, growing with more creativity with each patch.
“The student pilot patches give each class an opportunity to express how they as a group are going to work together building their esprit de corps, increasing their morale as they go through a tough year of pilot training,” said Lt. Col. Benjamin Jensen, 14th Student Squadron commander.
“We give them a lot of artistic license to come up with some sort of design,” he continued. “We give them some general guide lines such as the patch needs to promote morale, have a good sense of heritage and history. It needs to be meaningful and reflect good taste, be non-controversial, and reflect favorably upon the Air Force as well.”