Airman (E-2)
Airman, pay grade E-2: the second enlisted rank in the US Air Force. The insignia is one stripe with a star in a circle at its middle.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The insignia has a single stripe swept upward on each side of a circle holding a star, the design a majority of 150 airmen polled in March 1948 chose for the Air Force’s enlisted chevrons. Airman is the second of the four junior enlisted ranks: above airman basic (E-1), who wears no insignia, and below airman first class, who wears two stripes. The Enlisted Force Structure describes an airman as learning military standards, customs and courtesies and working to become mission-ready in an assigned job, and the Airman handbook says an airman still requires significant supervision and support. The abbreviation is Amn.
Also searched as: Amn, E-2 air force.
Ranks and insignia as the Department of the Air Force’s own instructions and pages set them out. Pay grades are the Department of Defense’s.
Airman or airman first class?
Count the stripes: one for an airman, two for an airman first class. The Air Force Historical Research Agency’s chronology of the chevron dates these counts to October 1967, when airman got one stripe and airman first class two.
The E-2 rank in other services
The Army’s E-2 is private (private second class). The Marine Corps’ E-2 is private first class, a title the Army uses for E-3.
More air Force ranks
Browse symbols drawn with circles, curves and waves or stars.
Sources
- 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 insignia table, E-1 to E-3
- Awards and Ranks: Enlisted Ranks (image gallery), af.mil, About Us, The Book: Enlisted Ranks, U.S. Air Force (af.mil), Image caption, Airman Stripe (Amn)
- The Enlisted Force Structure, The Enlisted Force Structure, 4 September 2025, Department of the Air Force, published by Air University, Chapter 2, Force Structure; Chapter 3, Rank Specific Responsibilities
- AFH 1, Airman, Air Force Handbook 1, Airman, 15 February 2025, Department of the Air Force, §7.5, Junior Enlisted Tier
- 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, 19 October 1967 entry
- A Study in Stripes, Walter J. Boyne, Air Force Magazine, 1 March 2008, Air & Space Forces Magazine (Air & Space Forces Association), “Up and Down”
- 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, §5.1.3
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research