United States Air Force
In the U.S. Air Force, Airman is a general term which can refer to any member of the United States Air Force, and also a specific enlisted rank. The rank of Airman (abbreviated "AMN") is the second enlisted rank from the bottom, just above the rank of Airman Basic, and just below that of Airman First Class. Since the Air Force was established 1947, all of the various ranks of "Airman" have always included females, and in this context, the word "man" means "human being" or human resource. Former U.S. Air Force ranks included Airman Second Class and Airman Third Class. The current E-2 paygrade rank of Airman was called Airman Third Class from 1952 to 1967.
A person with the rank of Airman Basic is typically promoted to the rank of Airman after six months of active duty service in the Air Force, if that member had signed up for an enlistment period of at least four years of active duty. On the other hand, an enlistee could be promoted to the rank of Airman immediately after completing Air Force basic training (and thus paid somewhat more) given one of several additional qualifications:
- Having completed at least two years of a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (Junior ROTC) while in high school. These programs are sponsored and taught by four of the services at hundreds of the larger high schools in the United States and its possessions (but only one program per school).
- Having achieved the Eagle Scout level from the Boy Scouts of America, or the Gold Award from the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
- Having earned 20 college semester credit hours (30 quarter hours).
Those enlistees who have qualified for these early promotions to the rank of Airman are allowed to wear their single Airman insignia stripe during the Air Force basic training graduation ceremony at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. They also receive their retroactive pay increment that brings them up to the pay grade for an Airman upon their completion of basic training. (Thus, it is as if they has enlisted as Airmen on the first day, as far as their pay is concerned. However, if they don't complete basic training, but rather they get discharged, they don't get the extra pay.)
While at the rank of Airman, the duties of enlisted personnel include adjusting to the Air Force way of military life and becoming proficient in their Air Force duty specialties. Note that upon leaving basic training, all Airmen enter a period of many weeks or many months of training at Air Force schools in their duty specialties (their "jobs") that they and the Air Force have selected for them depending on their aptitudes and interests, and the needs of the Air Force for various specialties. For Airmen with high aptitudes, some of these training programs include more than one school and take one year or more to complete. Some Airmen are preparing for duty in highly-skilled Air Force jobs including as technicians for multiple types of airplanes, long-range missiles, helicopters, jet engines and turboprop engines, electronics, radars, explosive ordnance and weapons, air-to-air missiles, nuclear weapons, computers, communication systems, high-technology security systems; technicians and assistants in the medical field, including nurses, physician's assistants, dental assistants, and many more.
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