Lieutenant colonel (O-5)
Lieutenant colonel, pay grade O-5, US Air Force. The insignia is a silver oak leaf.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The middle field grade rank, lieutenant colonel wears the oak leaf of a Major (O-4) in silver instead of gold; a Colonel (O-6), one grade up, wears a silver eagle. The abbreviation is Lt Col, and the Navy’s equivalent grade is commander.
Also searched as: Lt Col.
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.
Black on the OCP uniform
On the OCP camouflage uniform, Air Force rank insignia are spice brown, except lieutenant colonel’s and first lieutenant’s, which are black (DAFI 36-2903). A black leaf is a lieutenant colonel; a brown one is a major.
Read next
More air Force ranks
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with curves and waves.
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), Officer insignia table, Air Force; officer introduction
- 37 U.S.C. 201, Pay grades: assignment to; general rules, United States Code, 2023 edition, Title 37, § 201, U.S. Government Publishing Office, § 201(a)(1) table
- 10 U.S.C. 741, Rank: commissioned officers of the armed forces, United States Code, 2024 edition, Title 10, § 741, U.S. Government Publishing Office, § 741(a) and its table
- Insignia, Rank, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force, National Air and Space Museum, object A19951080000, 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
- Insignia, Rank, Colonel, United States Air Force, National Air and Space Museum, object A19951076000, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Physical Description
- 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, §4.5.1.1.4; §5.1.3
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
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