Air Force ranks
US Air Force rank insignia, enlisted and officer, in order, with the pay grade each one shows.
Test yourself: Air Force ranks quiz
Enlisted 10 symbols
Officers 11 symbols
Ranks by pay grade, branch by branch
A pay grade and a rank differ. The pay grade is a letter and a number (E for enlisted, W for warrant officer, O for officer) set by law, 37 U.S.C. § 201; it fixes basic pay and is the same in every service. The rank is the title and insignia each service gives that grade, so an E-5 is a sergeant in the Army and Marine Corps, a petty officer second class in the Navy and a staff sergeant in the Air Force. Some grades hold two ranks: an Army E-4 is a specialist or a corporal.
- Each service’s senior enlisted adviser is an E-9 in a post of their own, senior to every other enlisted member of that service: Sergeant major of the Army (SMA); Sergeant major of the Marine Corps (SMMC); Master chief petty officer of the Navy (MCPON); Chief master sergeant of the Air Force (CMSAF).
- In the Air Force, command chief master sergeant is a position held by an E-9, and first sergeant is a duty for an E-7, E-8 or E-9 (a diamond on the chevron), not a rank: Command chief master sergeant (CCM).
- The Navy brought back W-1 in 2018, for cyber warrant officers only; it had used no W-1 since 1975.
- The Air Force re-established warrant officers in 2024, for cyber and IT fields only; the first graduated in December 2024.
- Five-star ranks (General of the Army, Fleet Admiral, General of the Air Force) are reserved for wartime and none is held today. The Space Force has no warrant officers.
About air Force ranks
US Air Force ranks run from airman basic (E-1) to general (O-10). The Air Force’s Enlisted Force Structure puts enlisted airmen in three tiers: junior enlisted from E-1 to E-4, non-commissioned officers at E-5 and E-6, and senior NCOs from E-7 to E-9. In the Air Force a staff sergeant is an E-5; in the Army and Marine Corps staff sergeant is E-6.
Airman basic wears no stripes
The Air Force’s dress regulation, DAFI 36-2903, requires no rank insignia for airmen basic. An airman (E-2) has one stripe and an airman first class two, the counts the Air Force set in 1967.
Reading the stripes
Every Air Force chevron has a circle with a star in the middle and stripes swept upward from it, the design a majority of 150 airmen chose in a 1948 poll, as the historian Walter Boyne tells it. Below the star the stripes build to five for a technical sergeant (E-6). Senior NCOs add stripes above the star: one for master sergeant, two for senior master sergeant, three for chief master sergeant, a layout that became mandatory in October 1997. A diamond in the centre marks a first sergeant, a duty the Air Force lists among its developmental duties. The chief master sergeant of the Air Force has a wreath around the star and, since 2004, the Great Seal and two stars above.
Officers
Air Force officers wear the same insignia as Army and Marine officers. On the OCP uniform the insignia is spice brown, except first lieutenant and lieutenant colonel, which are black. The service cap shows the tier too: a plain visor for company grade officers, and two or three clouds and darts on each side of the visor for field grade and general officers.
Warrant officers and General of the Air Force
The Air Force phased out warrant officers in 1959 and reintroduced them in 2024; the first 30 graduated from Warrant Officer Training School on 6 December 2024, for fields such as cyber, intelligence and space. The Defense Department’s insignia chart still says there are no warrant officers in the Air Force. General of the Air Force, the five-star rank, is marked reserved for wartime only. Henry H. Arnold, appointed by Congress in 1949, is the only officer to have held it.
Sources
- The Enlisted Force Structure, The Enlisted Force Structure, 4 September 2025, Department of the Air Force, published by Air University, Enlisted tiers; developmental duties
- U.S. Military Rank Insignia, Resources: U.S. Military Rank Insignia (enlisted and officer insignia by paygrade), U.S. Department of Defense (defense.gov), Enlisted, warrant officer and officer tables
- DAFI 36-2903, Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force and Space Force Personnel, DAFI 36-2903, 29 February 2024, with guidance changes, Department of the Air Force, OCP rank insignia
- A Chronology of the Enlisted Rank Chevron of the United States Air Force, TSgt Barry L. Spink, Air Force Historical Research Agency, 19 February 1992, Department of the Air Force Historical Support Division, 1948, 1967 and 1991 entries
- A Study in Stripes, Walter J. Boyne, Air Force Magazine, 1 March 2008, Air & Space Forces Magazine (Air & Space Forces Association), 1948 design
- Stripes: A brief history of Air Force enlisted ranks, Randy Saunders, 50th Space Wing historian, 25 October 2011, U.S. Air Force (af.mil), 1991–1997 redesign
- Awards and Ranks: Enlisted Ranks (image gallery), af.mil, About Us, The Book: Enlisted Ranks, U.S. Air Force (af.mil), Captions
- New CMSAF insignia debuts Nov. 1, Tech. Sgt. David A. Jablonski, 29 October 2004, U.S. Air Force (af.mil)
- AFH 1, Airman, Air Force Handbook 1, Airman, 15 February 2025, Department of the Air Force, Service cap
- Insignia, Rank, Captain (a United States Air Force captain’s insignia), National Air and Space Museum, object A19951091000, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Physical description
- Insignia, Rank, Major, United States Air Force, National Air and Space Museum, object A19951084000, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Physical description
- DA Pamphlet 670-1, Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia, DA PAM 670-1, 26 January 2021, Headquarters, Department of the Army (Army Publishing Directorate), para 21–6
- Officer Knowledge (Officer Development School), Officer Training Command Newport, ODS Knowledge Book, Naval Service Training Command, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps rank insignia table
- First Air Force warrant officers graduate, prepare to enter force, Staff Sgt. Emmeline James, Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, 6 December 2024, U.S. Air Force (af.mil)
- Henry H. Arnold (official biography), Biography: General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold, U.S. Air Force (af.mil)
- Insignia, Rank, General of the Air Force, Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold, National Air and Space Museum, object A19610010003, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Description
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 29, 2026. How we research