United States Air Force

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services. It was part of the U.S. Army until September 18, 1947.^[1]

The Air Force is the largest air force in the world and considered one of the most technologically advanced. It has thousands of aircraft in service. including bombers, fighter aircraft, and transport, and hundreds of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Hundreds of thousands of men and women are on active duty in the Air Force and others are in the Reserves and the United States National Guard.

Officer ranks

Pay grade	O-1	O-2	O-3	O-4	O-5	O-6	O-7	O-8	O-9	O-10	Special
Insignia
Title	Second Lieutenant	First Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Lieutenant Colonel	Colonel	Brigadier General	Major General	Lieutenant General	General	General of the Air Force
Abbreviation2	2d Lt	1st Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig Gen	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	GAF
NATO Code	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9	OF-10
1 Awarded as an honorary rank or during periods of a declared war. 2 No periods are used in actual grade abbreviation.

Warrant officers

The Air Force warrant officer ranks, while authorized by law, are not used.

Enlisted personnel

Pararescuemen and a simulated "survivor" watch as an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter comes in for a landing.

Main article: United States Air Force enlisted rank insignia

US DoD Pay grade	E-1	E-2	E-3	E-4	E-5	E-6	E-7		E-8		E-9
Insignia	No Insignia
Title	Airman Basic	Airman	Airman First Class	Senior Airman	Staff Sergeant	Technical Sergeant	Master Sergeant¹		Senior Master Sergeant¹		Chief Master Sergeant¹		Command Chief Master Sergeant	Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
Abbreviation	AB	Amn	A1C	SrA	SSgt	TSgt	MSgt		SMSgt		CMSgt		CCM	CMSAF
NATO Code	OR-1	OR-2	OR-3	OR-4	OR-5	OR-6	OR-7		OR-8		OR-9		OR-9	OR-9
¹ The USAF does not have a separate First Sergeant rank; it is instead a duty denoted by a diamond within the upper field.