Strange Portrait

This is a studio portrait from 1946. I'm guessing all the insignia were props, because none of it is regulation. From the research I've done, he was an enlisted man. I guess they really just loved the officer's "US" insignia there.

Sergeant Pilots, crazy uniforms...

If you notice the guy in the middle, he's wearing an officer's jacket with S/Sgt. stripes sewn on. Also note the officer's gabardine cap with enlisted device. The caption says that he bought them in the States anticipating they'd give him a commission when they got to the Middle East, but no such luck. He took it upon himself to sew them on in defiance (and possibly protest) of regulations. There were a lot of Sgt. pilots in the 316th Troop Carrier Group that flew C-47's and gliders as enlisted pilots.