Technical sergeant (E-6)
Technical sergeant, pay grade E-6: the higher of the two noncommissioned officer ranks in the US Air Force. The insignia is five stripes with a star in a circle at their middle.
Easily confused with
How to read it
A staff sergeant, one grade down, has four stripes; a master sergeant, one grade up, adds a stripe above the star. The Airman handbook calls technical sergeants often a unit’s technical experts, and they must complete the NCO Academy before they can become master sergeants. The abbreviation is TSgt; the term of address is “Technical Sergeant”, “Tech Sergeant” or “Sergeant”.
Also searched as: E-6 air force, tech sergeant, TSgt.
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.
Technical sergeant or master sergeant?
Both have five stripes below the star. A master sergeant also has a stripe above it: when the senior NCO chevrons were redesigned in the 1990s, one stripe was taken off the bottom and put at the top, starting with master sergeant (the Air Force Historical Research Agency’s chronology). Before that, a technical sergeant had five stripes and a master sergeant six.
The E-6 rank in other services
The Army’s and the Marine Corps’ E-6 is staff sergeant, the title the Air Force gives its E-5.
Read next
- Next in Air Force ranksMaster sergeant (E-7)Master sergeant, pay grade E-7: the first senior noncommissioned officer rank in the US Air Force. The insignia is five stripes below a star in a circle and one stripe above it.
- 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-6
- Awards and Ranks: Enlisted Ranks (image gallery), af.mil, About Us, The Book: Enlisted Ranks, U.S. Air Force (af.mil), Image caption, Technical Sergeant stripes
- 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 4, Rank Specific Responsibilities
- AFH 1, Airman, Air Force Handbook 1, Airman, 15 February 2025, Department of the Air Force, §7.6, Noncommissioned Officer 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, March 1948 and October 1991 entries
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 30, 2026. How we research
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