Airman first class (E-3)
Airman first class, pay grade E-3: the third enlisted rank in the US Air Force. The insignia is two stripes with a star in a circle at their middle.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The two stripes sweep upward from a circle holding a star: one more than an Airman (E-2), one fewer than a senior airman. A1C is the third of the four junior enlisted ranks. The Enlisted Force Structure has airmen first class building mission-ready skills and working towards their 5-skill level, and the Airman handbook says that level is typically earned at this grade. They are addressed as “Airman First Class” or “Airman”.
Also searched as: A1C, E-3 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.
A title that moved
From 1952 to 1967, airman first class was the E-4 rank and wore three stripes, one below a staff sergeant’s four. In October 1967 the Air Force renamed E-4 sergeant, restoring the noncommissioned officer status it had lost in 1952, and airman first class became the two-stripe E-3 rank it is now (the Air Force Historical Research Agency’s chronology).
Not the same grade as private first class
In the Army, private first class is E-3, the same pay grade as airman first class. In the Marine Corps, private first class is E-2 and the E-3 rank is lance corporal (the Department of War’s insignia tables).
Read next
- Next in Air Force ranksSenior airman (E-4)Senior airman, pay grade E-4: the highest junior enlisted rank in the US Air Force. The insignia is three stripes with a star in a circle at their middle.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of TunisiaTunisia’s flag is red with a white disc in the centre holding a red crescent and a red five-pointed star. The preamble of Tunisia’s constitution speaks of martyrs whose blood painted the land in the colours of the national flag; the Tunisian press describes the crescent and star as symbols of unity, faith and freedom.
More air Force ranks
The same shape elsewhere
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-2 and 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 1st Class (A1C)
- 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, 24 April 1952 and 19 October 1967 entries
- A Study in Stripes, Walter J. Boyne, Air Force Magazine, 1 March 2008, Air & Space Forces Magazine (Air & Space Forces Association), “Up and Down”
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 29, 2026. How we research
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