Airmen can now wear Gold Star, Next of Kin lapel buttons on their uniform

The Air Force is allowing airmen to pin the Gold Star Lapel Button and ​or the Next of Kin of Deceased Personnel Lapel Button on their Air Force dress coats, mess dress and service dress uniforms. 

"This was something the senior leadership thought was important," Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Brooke Brzozowske told Air Force Times on Tuesday. The service updated its uniform and dress regulations on March 30 with a guidance memorandum to include the use of these pins, she said. 

Airmen must qualify to wear either pin. Under a federal law Congressional Law 80-306 ​first enacted approved ​in 1947, members of the armed forces who are often ​issued the Gold Star pin include widows and widowers(ers)​, parents, step-​parents, children, siblings, and half- or step-siblings of those who died in combat.

As the law is written, the Gold Star pin applies to conflicts from World War I to June 30, 1958 apply​, but later dates can also apply onward matter, too​. For example, those who lost their lives after June 30, 1958, while engaged in "an action against an enemy of the United States," subsequently including a terrorist attack recognized by the D​defense sS​ecretary, or while serving in a military operation or as part of a peacekeeping force outside the United States, even in friendly countries, still qualify.

Those not eligible for the Gold Star pin could would ​receive the Next of Kin pin, which applies to relatives who lost loved ones who were on active -​duty, or were assigned to a Reserve or Guard unit in a drill status. The pin is authorized for issue retroactive to March 29, 1973, according to Code of Federal Regulations 32, Section 578.63. 

Soldiers have been able to wear the pins on their dress uniforms since 2014, when then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno approved their​ use of the pins. It is unclear if either pin is authorized to be worn by sailorsthe Navy​; the Marine Corps is not considering the pins as optional wear items at this time, Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Burns told Air Force Times. 

Oriana Pawlyk covers deployments, cyber, Guard/Reserve, uniforms, physical training, crime and operations in the Middle East and Europe for Air Force Times. She was the Early Bird Brief editor in 2015. Email her at opawlyk@airforcetimes.com.