Airman

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about military ranks. For civilian and generic usage, see
Aviator. For other uses, see Airman (disambiguation)
.
Comparative military ranks
Armies,
air forces
(non-Commonwealth)		 Navies,
coast guard		 Air forces
(Commonwealth system)
Flag commissioned officers
Field marshal Admiral of the fleet Marshal of the air force
General or
colonel general or
army general		 Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general or
army corps general		 Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general or
divisional general		 Rear admiral or
Counter admiral		 Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore or
flotilla admiral		 Air commodore
Senior commissioned officers
Colonel (Ship-of-the-Line)
Captain		 Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Frigate captain or
Commander		 Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Corvette captain or Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Junior commissioned officers
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
First lieutenant or
lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant or
junior lieutenant		 Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Non-commissioned officers
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Enlisted ranks
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Lance bombardier or
Specialist
 Able seaman Leading aircraftman
Private or
gunner or
trooper or
sapper		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman or
aviator
C-130J Hercules aircraft during water rescue training in the Florida panhandle

An airman is a member of an

armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank.[1] An airman can also be referred as a soldier in other definitions.[2]
As a military rank designation the male form of address also applies to women.

In civilian aviation usage, the term airman is analogous to the term

airman's certificate
, male or female. This certificate is issued to those who qualify for it by the Federal Aviation Administration Airmen Certification Branch.

United States

Air Force

See also: United States Air Force enlisted rank insignia

In the

Airman First Class. Since the Air Force was established in 1947, all of the various ranks of "airman" have always included women, and in this context, the word "man" means "human being". Former U.S. Air Force ranks included Airman Second Class and Airman Third Class.[Note 1]
The current E-2 paygrade rank of Airman was called Airman Third Class from 1952 to 1967.

A person with the rank of Airman Basic is typically promoted to the rank of Airman after six months of active duty service in the Air Force, if that member had signed up for an enlistment period of at least four years of active duty. On the other hand, an enlistee could be promoted to the rank of Airman immediately after completing Air Force basic training (and thus paid somewhat more) given one of several additional qualifications:

  • Having completed at least two years of a
    high school
    .
  • Having achieved the
    Girl Scouts of the United States of America
    .
  • Having earned 20 college semester credit hours (30 quarter hours).

Those enlistees who have qualified for these early promotions to the rank of Airman are allowed to wear their single airman insignia stripe during the Air Force basic training graduation ceremony at

San Antonio, Texas
. They also receive a retroactive pay increment that brings them up to the pay grade for an Airman upon their completion of basic training. (Thus, it is as if they have enlisted as Airmen on the first day, as far as their pay is concerned. However, if they do not complete basic training and are discharged, they do not receive the extra pay.)

While at the rank of Airman, the duties of enlisted personnel include adjusting to the Air Force way of military life and becoming proficient in their Air Force duty specialties. Note that upon leaving basic training, all Airmen enter a period of many weeks or many months of training at Air Force schools in their duty specialties that they and the Air Force have selected for them depending on their aptitudes and interests, and the needs of the Air Force. For Airmen with high aptitudes, some of these training programs include more than one school and take a year or more to complete.

Airmen are often nicknamed “mosquito wings" due to the insignia's resemblance to a mosquito's small wings.

Navy

See also: List of United States Navy enlisted rates

In the

Petty Officer Third Class, pay grade E-4.[Note 2]

Coast Guard

In the

Petty Officer Third Class
, E-4 pay grade.

Venezuela

See also: Venezuelan military ranks

The rank is used by the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela.

See also

Notes

  1. Air Force Sergeant
    "; the former "Airman" became the new "Airman First Class"; the former "Airman Second Class" became an "Airman"; and the former "Airman Third Class" became an "Airman Basic". All of the pay and fringe benefit grades remained as they were, just associated with new and less cumbersome rank names.
  2. ^ The following Navy rates (actual job names and functions) fall within the category of "Airman" and are all at the E-3 pay grade:
    • AD: aviation machinist's mate
    • AE: aviation electrician's mate
    • AG: aviation aerographer's mate
    • AM: aviation structural mechanic
    • AME: aviation structural mechanic (egress)
    • AO: aviation ordnanceman
    • AS: aviation support equipment technician
    • AT: aviation electronics technician
    • AW: aviation warfare systems operator
    • AZ: aviation maintenance administrationman

References

  1. ^ "Airman". Oxford English Dictionary.
  2. ^ "soldier - Dictionary Definition". Vocabulary.com. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
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