US Air Force Ranks

A service branch of the United States Armed Forces which specializes in aerial warfare - the United States Air Force (USAF) is the largest air force in the world. It has 5,573 aircraft to its credit, out of which 2,132 are specialized fighter aircraft. In terms of human resource, the USAF has 329,638 active personnel and 68,872 reserve personnel serving at different military ranks. As in case of the other seven uniformed services, the ranks and insignia play an important role in establishing the system of hierarchy in the US Air Force - which forms the basis for discipline within the organization.

United States Air Force Ranks

The rank structure of the US Air Force ranges from the enlisted rank of Airman Basic to the commissioned rank of General. Though it is not active as of today, the highest possible rank in the USAF is that of the General of the Air Force which is equivalent to the General of the Army and Fleet Admiral in the US Navy. The US Air Force is the only uniformed service in the United States which doesn't have the rank of Warrant Officers. Basically, the US Air Force rank structure is categorized into two groups - commissioned ranks and enlisted ranks.

Commissioned Ranks: The commissioned ranks of the US Air Force start from Second Lieutenant and go on to the General of the Air Force - which happens to be the highest rank in this US Armed Forces branch. These ranks are further grouped into three divisions - company grade, field grade, and general officers. Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant and Captain are the company grade officers; Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel are the field grade officers and Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, and General of the Air Force are general officers. The pay scale for Commissioned Officer ranks is depicted with the letter 'O'.

Enlisted Ranks: The enlisted United States Air Force ranks are grouped into two categories - Airmen and Non Commissioned Officers (NCO). The first category comprises personnel who serve as the Basic, Airman, Airman First Class, and Senior Airman. The second category, on the other hand, comprises NCOs (aka Jr NCOs) - i.e. the Staff Sergeant and Technical Sergeant, and Sr NCOs - i.e. the Master Sergeant, Senior Master, Sergeant, Chief Master Sergeant, Command Chief Master Sergeant, and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. Like letter O depicts the pay scale for the Commissioned Officers, letter 'E' depicts the same for the enlisted personnel.

Given below is a US Air Force rank chart which will help you get a better understanding of the rank structure followed by this branch of the United States Armed Forces.

US Air Force Ranks in Order

Commissioned Officers Rank Abbr. Pay Scale General of the Air Force GOAF O-10 Special General Air Force Chief of Staff Gen O-10 Lieutenant General Lt Gen O-9 Major General Maj Gen O-8 Brigadier General Brig Gen O-7 Colonel Col O-6 Lieutenant Colonel Lt Col O-5 Major Maj O-4 Captain Capt O-3 First Lieutenant 1st Lt O-2 Second Lieutenant 2d Lt O-1

Enlisted Personnel Rank Abbr. Pay Scale Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force CMSAF E-9 Special Command Chief Master Sergeant CCM E-9 Chief Master Sergeant CMSgt E-9 Senior Master Sergeant SMSgt E-8 Master Sergeant MSgt E-7 Technical Sergeant TSgt E-6 Staff Sergeant SSgt E-5 Senior Airman or Sergeant SrA E-4 Airman First Class A1C E-3 Airman Amn E-2 Airman Basic AB E-1

The US Air Force has played an important role in several recent wars - including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a couple of years ago. There are numerous reasons as to why individuals who wish to serve their nation look forward to join the Air Force, and the fact that you get to cruise in air in amazing 'fighters' that this organization boasts of is just one of them.