SPAG badge & Wings?

[sailorbear]

Hi all, hopefully someone can answer this for me as having problems finding anything in dress regs and no longer in touch with anyone who has served in the Submarine Parachute Assistance Group.

Serving members of the SPAG wear the large lightbulb badge on their cuff, in No 1 uniform, and on mess dress and on PCS working uniform they wear standard parachute wings on the shoulder. My question is, as the lightbulb badge is a specialisation badge denoting they are serving operational SPAG, and not a qualification badge, are the standard parachute wings also worn on the shoulder on No 1 dress?

Cheers Tony

[Royal]

There has been a lot of too-ing and fro-ing on this.

When I was still serving (up to 2008) they wore the full wings on all rigs but that upset those of the pink hat wearing fraternity as they didn't consider that jumping into the North Atlantic at night fitted the 'risk and rigour' element supposedly needed for them.

So at some point in the intervening years they went back to lightbulbs with no shoulder wings on 1s. AFAIK that is still the case.

I think it will change again with RIG23 or whatever its called now as all the other qual badges (including SF, SF Sigs, SF Med and Commando) are supposed to be going.

[sailorbear]

Cheers Royal, that tells me what I needed to know! I worked with the SPAG, as a baby MA at fort Blockhouse as one of my placements in 2005, and spent most of my time in the Submarine Escape Training Tower (SETT), but I only ever saw the SPAG guys in No 4's. swimming trunks or track suits, and one in mess dress, but I've never actually seen a member of the SPAG in No 1's, so never actually seen if they wore para wings or not? As for Rig23, I believe it is only trade, qualification and specialisation badges on the blue working rig (replacement for PCS) that are going (apart from a Royal Navy shoulder title), but badges will still be worn on No1, MTP and tropical rig.