United States Air Force Enlisted Rank Insignia
The chart below represents the current enlisted rank insignia of the United States Air Force.
| US DoD Pay grade | E-1 | E-2 | E-3 | E-4 | E-5 | E-6 | E-7 | E-8 | E-9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insignia | No Insignia | |||||||||||||
| Title | Airman Basic | Airman | Airman First Class | Senior Airman | Staff Sergeant | Technical Sergeant | Master Sergeant¹ | Senior Master Sergeant¹ | Chief Master Sergeant¹ | Command Chief Master Sergeant | Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force | |||
| Abbreviation | AB | Amn | A1C | SrA | SSgt | TSgt | MSgt | SMSgt | CMSgt | CCM | CMSAF | |||
| NATO Code | OR-1 | OR-2 | OR-3 | OR-4 | OR-5 | OR-6 | OR-7 | OR-8 | OR-9 | OR-9 | OR-9 | |||
|
¹ The U.S. Air Force does not have a separate First Sergeant rank; it is instead a duty denoted by a diamond within the upper field. |
||||||||||||||
While all Air Force military personnel are referred to as Airmen, it can specifically refer to the pay grades of E-1 through E-4 which are below the level of non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Above the pay grade of E-4 (E-5 through E-9) all ranks fall into the category of NCO and are further subdivided into NCOs (E-5 & E-6) and Senior NCOs (E-7 through E-9); the term Junior NCO is sometimes used to refer to staff sergeants and technical sergeants (E-5 & E-6).
The Air Force is the only one of the five branches of the United States military where NCO status is only achieved at the grade of E-5. In all other branches NCO status can be achieved at the grade of E-4 (a Corporal in the Army and Marine Corps, Petty Officer Third Class in the Navy and Coast Guard). However, E-4s in the Army with the rank of Specialist are not NCOs. The Air Force mirrored the Army from 1976 to 2 May 1991 with an E-4 being either a Senior Airman wearing three stripes without a star or a Sergeant (informally referred to as "Buck Sergeant") which was noted by the presence of the central star and considered an NCO. Despite not being an NCO, a Senior Airman who has completed Airman Leadership School can be a supervisor.
Read more about United States Air Force Enlisted Rank Insignia: Evolution of The Chevrons
Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states, air, force and/or rank:
“I feel most at home in the United States, not because it is intrinsically a more interesting country, but because no one really belongs there any more than I do. We are all there together in its wholly excellent vacuum.”
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
“What lies behind facts like these: that so recently one could not have said Scott was not perfect without earning at least sorrowful disapproval; that a year after the Gang of Four were perfect, they were villains; that in the fifties in the United States a nothing-man called McCarthy was able to intimidate and terrorise sane and sensible people, but that in the sixties young people summoned before similar committees simply laughed.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)
“fundamentally an organism has conscious mental states if and only if there is something that it is like to be that organism—something it is like for the organism.”
—Thomas Nagel (b. 1938)
“Having grown up in shade of Church and State
Breathing the air of drawing-rooms and scent ...”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“Like a kick in the butt, the force of events wakes slumberous talents.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“Only what is rare is valuable.
Let no one dare to call another mad who is not himself willing to rank in the same class for every perversion and fault of judgment. Let no one dare aid in punishing another as criminal who is not willing to suffer the penalty due to his own offenses.”
—Margaret Fuller (1810–1850)