Colored Flight Deck Caps

Gift of Lloyd Gilmore, 2002.025

A number of jobs are required to successfully launch and retrieve aircraft onboard aircraft carriers. To be able to launch and retrieve aircraft as quickly as possible operations on deck are tightly controlled and choreographed, and roles are clearly delineated by the color a crewman wears. The red cap would be worn by sailors handling ammunition and ordnance, as well as by crash and salvage crews. The blue cap denotes a plane handler or aircraft elevator operator.