Airman first class (E-3)

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.

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).