Command chief master sergeant (E-9)

How to read it

The chevron is a chief master sergeant’s, five stripes below and three above, with a silver star added in the upper field. Command chief is a duty title, not a separate rank: AFI 36-2109 limits the title and its distinctive chevron to chiefs awarded reporting identifier 9E000 and assigned to a command chief position, and the term of address stays “Chief Master Sergeant” or “Chief”. The Enlisted Force Structure describes command chiefs as the most senior enlisted leaders at levels of command such as a wing, numbered air force, center or major command.

Also searched as: CCM, command chief.

Command chief or Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force?

Both add to the chief master sergeant’s chevron in the upper field. The command chief has one star there. The Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force has the Great Seal of the United States and two stars, with a laurel wreath around the lower star. The Air Force’s 2004 article on the CMSAF’s new insignia recalled that Eric W. Benken, a former Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, had created the command chief position and given it a star in the top field, and that many people said that insignia had begun to overshadow the CMSAF’s.

From senior enlisted advisor to command chief

The title replaced senior enlisted advisor in November 1998 (Air & Space Forces Magazine). The Airman handbook records that Benken believed the new title and the star on the chevron were critical to the success of these positions.