What a thread hijack, but since the question in regards to the A-10 was answered I will throw my 2 cents in on the patches. All the patch means is that the person who is wearing it was trained to be an "expert" in employing their weapon system. The CAOC bosses loves to have these dudes running around because they usually have the answers. I would love to see finance officers get a patch school...so I can get paid the correct amount in a reasonable amount of time.