United States Air Force Enlisted Rank Insignia

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

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