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Pilots of the SAAF Airforce
The South African Air Force (SAAF) This is the air force of South Africa, with headquarters in Pretoria.
The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920
The Air Force has seen service in World War II and the Korean War.
From 1966 the SAAF was involved in providing infantry support in a low intensity war ("The Border War") in Angola, South-West Africa (Namibia) and Rhodesia. As the war progressed, the intensity of air operations increased until in the late 1980s, the SAAF were compelled to fly fighter missions against Angolan aircraft in order to maintain tactical air superiority. On conclusion of the Border War in 1990, aircraft numbers were severely reduced due to economic pressures as well as the cessation of hostilities with neighboring states. Today the SAAF has a limited air combat capability and has been structured towards regional peace-keeping, disaster relief and maritime patrol operations.
Rank insignia
In 2002 the Air Force rank insignia were changed from one which was shared with the Army to a new pattern based on stripes. The Air Force stated that this was "in order to bring it more in line with international forms of rank".[90] The General ranks initially had a thick stripe (thicker than the Senior Officer rank stripe) with thin stripes above, but this was changed shortly after implementation to the crossed sword and baton insignia typical of Commonwealth Generals. The reason for the change so soon after implementation of the new insignia was presumed to be confusion in differentiating between Generals and Senior Officers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Air_Force
Sources, References and Further Reading