U.S. AIR FORCE RANKS

Originally created on August 1, 1907, as part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947.

In this video, we explore all the ranks of the U.S. Air Force.

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Time Stamps
0:00 Intro
0:49 Airmen/Junior Enlisted (E1 to E-4)
2:33 Non-commissioned Officers (E-5 to E-6)
3:27 Senior Non-commissioned Officers (E-7 to E-9)
7:55 Company Grade Officers (O-1 to O-3)
8:52 Field Grade Officers (O-4 to O-6)
9:56 General Officers (O-7 - O-10)
11:40 Did You know?
11:52 Outro

[C.Brown]

My Son just made Captain in August this year.. He joined right after Highschool so he's been in for 20 years as of April 2023.. I spoke with him about a month ago, and we were talking about jobs and things out here.. And he told me that he's staying in the Air Force until they drag him out to Gate.

[kenpatton]

Think they changed MSgt from 6 stripes down to 5 down/1 over back in the mid 1980‘s. When I went active duty in 1976 E-4 was initially a „Buck“ Sergeant. Then they switched to Senior Airman(a solid blue center star) and Buck Sergeant (a silver center star). Buck Sergeant was gained by attending Airman Leadership School. And when you made Staff Sergeant, you had to sew on „Buck“ Sergeant stripes for a day before sewing on SSgt. ‚Buck“Sergeant phased out in 1991 or so along with the solid blue center star. I believe the new Master Sergeant rank with 3 stripes over was an attempt at the old `‘top 3% „of enlisted grades. The total percentage of enlisted personnel reaching the top grade of „Chief Master Sergeant (E9)„ was 1%. With 2% of the enlisted force attaining Senior Master Sergeant (E8). Originally Master Sergeant wasn’t in the top 3%….but was the lowest of the „Senior“ Enlisted grades. As a retired Master Sergeant, I wore many „hats“ depending on availability/need of the Squadron. NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge) of a shop, of a branch, Maintenance Superintendent, Chief of Maintenance (an officers position usually a Major in my old unit) until an actual Major could be assigned, 1st Sergeant and Acting Commander (LT Col) position when unit deployed and left personnel behind (our unit rarely deployed 100%, we always left 30-40 airman behind to keep things running). The 1st Sergeant and Acting Commander positions would go to the ranking airman remaining when the rest of the unit deployed, so a Master Sergeant filled the spots as we took turns rotating who would deploy. 100% of the officers deployed from 2nd lieutenants to LT Col. In my old unit. So that was 23 years ago and I’m sure things have changed but I wonder how many base commanders now would be comfortable leaving a enlisted person in charge of one of their squadrons? I think my old base commander had a lot of trust in both my squadron commander and his decision to leave the unit in the hands of one of his Senior NCO‘s. My last duty assignment was in an Air Control Squadron which deployed every 12 months or so…..what fun! Cheers

[westswell]

Figuring the pay grade is easy. Give 1 for the star and add 1 for each stripe or chevron.

[alanstrong]

I would have liked a short Air Force enlistment, say a 2 year open contract. I would have worked harder to pass the written tests just to get E-4. Might have taken me to the final 3 months of service just to get that promotion. Gotta know your job or you are in "Dutch".

[이정환-xp]

Gen Arnold maybe 10star general. Once he was Gen of Army Air Corps and then Gen of Air Force.

[davidpettit]

your E2 back ground is the graduating class of OCS ( Officer Candidate School) do your home work please

[MyCareerRelatedVideos-xvdu]

First Lieutenant goes back from job yet or not?

[mlanning]

not true. air force statrted warrent officers school, this year.

[mcso-dep]

my brother did 21 yrs in the AF, left a an E-6, tech sgt.. to this day he claims this is normal, and that he was an exceptional airman, and that those that achieved higher rank are "ass kissers". i find that hard to believe, can anyone enlighten me on this. was he a slug, just waiting to be pushed out. i heard the common phrase "move up or move out", does the Air Force not have this ???

[pamsylvester]

When did they change the insignia. Use to be 6 down and 2 across the top.