The patch measures 2-1/2'' x 2''. It appears to be in excellent condition as pictured. Below here, for reference, is some additional information on the Navy V-5 program:
Aviation Cadet Training Program (USN)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aviation Cadet Act (1935)
On April 15, 1935 Congress passed the Aviation Cadet Act. This set up the Volunteer Naval Reserve class V-5 Naval Aviation Cadet (NavCad) program to send civilian and enlisted candidates to train as aviation cadets. Candidates had to be between the ages of 19 and 25, have an Associate's degree or at least two years of college, and had to complete a Bachelor's degree within six years after graduation to keep their commission. Training was for 18 months and candidates had to agree to not marry during training and to serve for at least three more years of active duty service.
Civilian candidates who had graduated or dropped out of college were classified as Volunteer Reserve class V-1 and held the rank of Ordinary Seaman in the Organized Reserve. Candidates who volunteered while still in college were enrolled in the Accredited College Program and were classified as Volunteer Reserve class V-1 (ACP). Candidates who were not already in the Navy were evaluated and processed at one of 13 Naval Reserve Air Bases across the country, each one representing one of the eligible Naval Districts. They consisted of the 1st and 3rd through 13th Naval Districts (representing the 48 states of the continental United States) and the 14th Naval District (comprising America's Pacific territories and headquartered at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii).
Candidates who were selected went on to Naval Flight Preparatory School. This was a course in physical training (to get the cadets in shape and weed out the unfit), military skills (marching, standing in formation, and performing the manual of arms), and naval customs and etiquette (as a naval officer was considered a gentleman). Pre-Flight School was a refresher course in mathematics and physics with practical applications of these skills in flight. This was followed by a short preliminary flight training module in which the cadets flew 10 hours with an instructor and 1 hour flying solo; those that passed received V-5 flight badges (gold-metal aviator's wings with the V-5 badge set in the center).
Graduates would become Naval Aviators with the rank of Aviation Cadet, which was considered senior to the rank of Chief Petty Officer but below the rank of Warrant Officer. As members of the Volunteer Reserve, they received the same pay as an Ordinary Seaman ($75 a month during training or duty ashore, $125 a month when on active sea duty, and $30 Mess allowance). They were sent on to Basic flight training at Pensacola NAS and Advanced flight training at a Naval Air Station. After three years of active service they were reviewed and could be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant (Junior Grade) in the Naval Reserve and received a $1,500 bonus.
Cadets who washed out of the V-5 program were assigned to Volunteer Reserve class V-6 with the rank of Ordinary Seaman. This was a holding category that allowed the Navy to evaluate the candidate for either reassignment to another part of the Volunteer Reserve or reassignment to the General Service branches of the Navy or Naval Reserve. They were exempt from being drafted by the Army in wartime but were considered Reservists in the Navy and could be called to active service at any time.
Naval Aviation Reserve Act (1939)
Due to poor pay and slow promotion, many Naval Aviation Cadets left the service to work for the growing commercial aviation and airline industries. On April 11, 1939, Congress passed the Naval Aviation Reserve Act, which expanded the parameters of the earlier Aviation Cadet Act. Training was for 12 months. Graduates would receive commissions in the Navy Reserve (as an Ensign) or Marine Corps Reserve (as a 2nd Lieutenant) and served an additional seven years on active duty.
Uniforms and Insignia
Naval Aviation Cadets wore the same dress uniforms as Naval officers once they completed Primary. During Basic and Ground School their duty uniforms from 1935 to 1943 were green surplus Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) fatigue uniforms. Cadets wore a different insignia than Army Aviation Cadets: a yellow shield with a blue chief with the word ''Navy'' in yellow letters, a pair of Naval Aviator wings bordered and decorated in blue across the middle, and the letter/number ''V-5'' in blue in the base. The insignia was in enameled sterling silver for wear on the breast pocket of dress uniform jackets and cloth patch form for wear on uniforms. Graduates received gold metal Naval Aviator's wings rather than the silver metal wings awarded to Army Aviators.
1942 - 1945
During World War II, the United States Navy pilot training program started to ramp up. It had the same stages as the Army Aviation program (Pre-Flight, Primary, Basic, and Advanced), except it added a Carrier Landing stage for fighter and dive bomber pilots. Each graduate had around 600 total flight hours - with 200 flight hours on front line Navy aircraft. In 1942 the program graduated 10,869 aviators, almost twice as many as had completed the program in the previous 8 years. In 1943 there were 20,842 graduates; in 1944, 21,067; and in 1945 there were 8,880. Thus in the period 1942 to 1945, the USN produced 61,658 pilots, more than 2.5 times the number of pilots as the Imperial Japanese Navy.
