THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF ntil 1963 the Joint Chiefs of Staff had no unique seal, emblem, or Uother identification device. From March 1949, personnel serving on a full-time duty status in the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (OJCS) and associated boards and staffs were authorized to wear the National Military Establishment Identification Badge (subsequently renamed the Department of Defense Identification Badge). Military personnel assigned to the OJCS wore the DOD Identification Badge until January 1961, when Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates suspended further issuance of the badge. On 5 February 1962, Lieutenant General Earle G. Wheeler, who was just completing his tour of duty as Director of the Joint Staff, wrote to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower on the matter of the identification badge. Wheeler favored reinstitution of the badge or a similar device for military personnel on the Joint Staff. In December 1962 when Deputy Secretary of Defense Roswell Gilpatric reinstated the DOD Identification Badge as the Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge but limited its issuance to individuals assigned to OSD, he informed the Director of the Joint Staff that he did not object to institution of a similar device for Joint Staff personnel. After the Personnel Directorate of the Joint Staff recommended adoption of a JCS identification badge, the US Army Institute of Heraldry designed an appropriate device. On 2 April 1963 the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the establishment of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge and on 3 April issued JCS Memorandum of Policy (MOP) 142 authorizing award of the badge to members of the Armed Forces assigned to the OJCS. Subsequently, the criteria were expanded to include military personnel assigned to agencies in direct support of the OJCS and later the Joint Staff. Over the years, the JCS Identification Badge has been used as the seal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff although no official action has ever designated it as such. The design features, within an oval silver metal wreath of laurel two and one-half inches in height and two inches in width overall, the shield of the United States. The chief (the upper one-third of the shield) in blue enamel and the base (the lower two-thirds of the shield) of thirteen stripes in alternating white and red enamel are superimposed on four gold metal unsheathed swords, two in pale (vertical) and two in saltire (crossed). The points and pommels of the swords are resting on the wreath; the blades and grips are entwined with a gold metal continuous scroll surrounding the shield with the word "Joint" at the top and the words "Chiefs of Staff" at the bottom, all in blue enamel letters. The symbolism of the badge includes the laurel for achievement, courage, and victory and the four unsheathed swords for the armed might of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps and their combined constant vigilance and readiness in the defense of the United States. Patented on 1 December 1964 (Patent No. Des. 199,678), the JCS Identification Badge appears on the covers of all JCS publications, plans, and official files. |