Drop-zone.
It comes from the Parachute Regiment, who have coloured flashes on their arms (rather like TRFs) to show which unit they’re from when they’re in one huge muddle at a drop-zone.
Given that the Junior Leaders do not, to my knowledge, have an airborne assault capability the naming could be considered a little odd.
Doesn’t everyone call a unit identifier (as opposed to a formation identifier) a DZ flash these days?
Thanks @MattB.
@daws1159. Afraid not, i had never even heard of it being caled that.
But every day is a learning day!
i always consider this name to describe the Squadron number on the brassard…
Certainly, but that doesn’t work in greens.
I’m not normally interested in legalities and regulations, but I’d be interested to see the rationale behind RAFAC commission holders wearing an RAF TRF now they are no longer commisioned in the RAF…
Probably the same rationale that sees are wearing the RAF Cap Badge, it at least makes the pretence that we are all in the RAF family.
What do Army Regiments outside the Airborne Call their insignia on the left hand blanking plate which usually indicates what Battalion they are in?
Probably the same reason we wear the RAF uniform with RAF insignia eg cap badge, rank etc. Light blue foot print.
Tactical Recognition Flash.
I’d like to see the rationale behind our wearing it in the first place. A TRF should be encompassing of the unit/formation (ie RAFAC), rather than any specific origin of the personnel.
simple and as discussed elsewhere.
cost
no one has the money to design or manufacture a new one for the RAFAC and why we continue with what we have as it is the best we have
its complicated…
the current pattern is to wear your Regimental TRF on the right arm (so, for me, that would be the Royal Artillery Red and Blue square), and your formation badge on the left arm - so that might be the Ram’s head of 1 Artillery Bde, or the dagger of 3CDO Bde, or the Pegasus of 16AA Bde or whatever.
some units have Bn level TRF’s - the Anglians, Mercians and Wesh for example have individual TRF’s for each Bn, while the Rifles where one TRF for all the Bn’s.
some of the RA Bty’s have their own TRF’s as well, and its the decision of the formation commander as to what gets worn - so often the Bty badge will be worn when in barracks in place of the RA TRF, but when on ops you’d revert to the RA TRF and the formation flash.
its a changable feast.
i could live with RAFAC Officers wearing the RAF TRF if they also wore an ACO/RAFAC formation flash that everyone in, or working in, the ACO wore. the problem for me was always the Officers getting a nice one, and everyone else getting an utterly bone one that no Officer would be seen dead wearing. now that the RAF connection has been been well and truly severed i see no justification for not having a single TRF/Formation flash that everyone, from Cadet Jones at 123 Sqn to everyone at HQAC wearing.
See I would like to see the RAF TRF being worn by everyone, we are allegedly all the RAF Family so let’s all be the same from the newest Cadet to the CAS.
I remember 1358C allowing unit level TRF on the left sleeve (design approved by Wing) let’s bring that back for the left hand side. Gives us RAF Family on 1 sleeve, Squadron Identity on the other sleeve and ATC/CCF on our beret.
Interestingly, school patches on the left sleeve are currently allowed for CCF but there is no equivalent for ATC
Some Wings still wear them on the basis that they were in the dress regs and were authorised and paid for before the goal posts were moved.
I’m aware of a wing rhyming with ‘Mater Granchester’ that has produced and distributed it’s own flash to all it’s units.
Interesting, be good to see pics of what they’re doing, unless its just their crest (sorry, badge 
) on the sleeve
If issued a wing flash i wouldnt wear it. Not in dress regs.
If we want to start editing the regs piece meal then we might as well tear everything up.
again, no problem from me - thats their unit/formation, (depending on whether its any good or not…) the only thing that would excersise me is if the cadets had to wear it, but those who could wear an RAF one didn’t.
i don’t have a problem per se with everyone wearing the RAF one, i just have a problem with the idea that TRF’s aren’t being worn as unit/formation identifiers, but (effectively) as rank identifiers.
a good option might be, on the right blanking plate, a blue sqn number (the same as on the blue brassard), and a wing TRF - not a crest - and on the left BP either the RAF TRF, or some derivative that distinguishes the ACO as not the RAF, but part of the RAF Family.
Wouldn’t the RAF one go on the right an dthe unit one on the left?
I would rather see Squadron Badges rather than Wing (I wouldn’t want to be using Squadron Identifiers on a blanking plate that starts to hark back to when Units used to wear brassards in Greens).
The ones I’ve seen are usually the centre of the Squadrons Crest subdued which looks pretty good. (Far better than just a subdued crest which I’ve seen before).
I’ll wear issue badges on my uniform on the day they issue me the uniform to wear it on. Until then, nah.
The ACF use their blanking plates I the same way we use a brassard. They have the ACF, star, marksman DofE FA etc on it. The precedent has been made would it be so bat that the Left Right hand blanking plate had the unit identifier (Sqn No) and Air Training Corps badges above the Air cadets TRF?