Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt) is the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force, just above Senior Master Sergeant, and is a senior non-commissioned officer. The official term of address is "Chief Master Sergeant" or "Chief".
Attaining the rank of Chief Master Sergeant is the pinnacle of an Air Force enlisted member's career. Some Chief Master Sergeants manage the efforts of all enlisted personnel within their unit or major subsection thereof, while others run major staff functions at higher headquarters levels. All Chief Master Sergeants are expected to serve as mentors for company-grade and field-grade commissioned officers, as well as noncommissioned officers and junior enlisted members, and to serve as advisors to unit commanders and senior officers.
By federal law, only one percent of the Air Force enlisted force may hold the rank of Chief Master Sergeant.
Read more about Chief Master Sergeant: Special Duty Positions, Historical Notes
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