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 a part of the United States Army until September 18, 1947.^[1] The USAF is the largest and most of technologically advanced air force in the world. It has thousands of aircraft in service including bombers, fighter aircraft, transports and other kinds, 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.

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

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

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.