United States Air Force officer rank insignia

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1 Current insignia
2 Wear of insignia
3 Past insignia
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Current insignia

Pay grade	special¹	O-10	O-9	O-8	O-7	O-6	O-5	O-4	O-3	O-2	O-1
Insignia
Title	General of the Air Force	General	Lieutenant General	Major General	Brigadier General	Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	Major	Captain	First Lieutenant	Second Lieutenant
Abbreviation	Gen-USAF	Gen	Lt Gen	Maj Gen	Brig Gen	Col	Lt Col	Maj	Capt	1st Lt	2nd Lt
NATO Code	OF-11	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1
¹ Honorary/War time rank.

This chart displays the United States Air Force officer rank insignia. The ranks are divided into three sections: company grade, field grade, and general officers. Company grade officers are those officers of grades O-1 to O-3. Field grade officers are those of grades O-4 to O-6. General officers are those of O-7 and above.

Currently, promotion from Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant is virtually guaranteed after two years of service. The promotion from First Lieutenant to Captain is likewise virtually guaranteed after successfully completing another two years of service.

Promotion to Captain and above is through a board process. An officer's record is reviewed by a selection board at the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. This process occurs at approximately three years for promotion to Captain, and between the nine- and eleven-year mark where a certain percentage will be selected for Major. This process will repeat at the 13-16 year mark for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and then around the twenty-year mark for promotion to Colonel.

[edit] Wear of insignia

A modern day U.S. Air Force General

On the Air Force Mess Dress uniform, officer rank insignia are embroidered in silver or gold thread on detachable epaulets which are attached to the mess dress jacket. No rank insignia are worn on the mess dress shirt.

On the service dress uniform, metal rank insignia pins are worn on the epaulets of the Air Force Blue service dress jacket. Rank insignia are embroidered in silver or gold thread on Air Force Blue epaulets which slide onto the epaulet loops on the light blue shirt. The slide-on epaulet for field-grade officers' shirts has a single line of silver piping toward the outer edge of the epaulet. The slide-on epaulet for general officers' shirts has silver piping on both the inner and outer edges of the epaulets. These slide-on epaulets are also worn on the cardigan and pull-over uniform sweaters.

The Flight Dress Uniform (FDU) features subdued cloth rank insignia sewn onto the shoulders. The cloth nametag worn over the officer's left breast pocket also indicates the officer's rank. The Air Force flight cap is worn with the FDU and service dress uniforms. The flight cap is solid Air Force Blue for enlisted personnel, but features a solid silver edge braid for general officers, and an edge braid in a silver and blue diamond pattern for other officers. Officers wear a bright metal rank insigne toward the front edge of the (wearer's) left side of the flight cap.

The Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) and Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) feature subdued cloth rank insignia worn on both sides of the collar. The BDU cap features a rank insignia centered on the front of the cap, above the bill, which may be a subdued cloth insigne or a bright or subdued metal pin-on insigne. Air Force officers authorized to wear berets (including Security Forces, Special Tactics Officers, and SERE specialists) wear a bright metal rank insigne on the beret's flash.

Subdued rank insignia, as worn on the BDU and FDU, are designed to reduce visibility of the wearer under field conditions. The subdued versions of silver insignia are embroidered in dark blue thread on an olive-drab backing. The subdued versions of gold insignia are embroidered in brown thread on an olive-drab backing. On desert uniforms, tan backing replaces the olive-drab backing (with black thread in place of dark blue thread). Subdued metal insignia are black and brown in place of silver and gold, respectively.

Agents of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations who are officers normally do not wear rank insignia, even when in uniform. Chaplains wear normal rank insignia reflecting their military rank, except that chaplains may wear a chaplain badge in lieu of rank insigne on the BDU cap.

[edit] Past insignia

General Chuck Horner wearing the "McPeak uniform" with rank insignia on the sleeves

The current Air Force officer rank names and insignia were borrowed from the Army upon the establishment of the Air Force as a separate service in 1947. This explains why the Air Force has brigadier generals but no brigades. The insignia have been essentially unchanged since then, except for a brief period during the 1990s.

The Army origin explains why the color silver outranks gold in Air Force officer insignia. In the early 19th century, Army infantry colonels wore gold eagles, while all other Army colonels wore silver eagles. When the Army later decided to adopt a single color of eagles for all colonels, that single color was silver, apparently because more silver eagles than gold eagles were already in use. Lieutenant colonels received silver oak leaves next, to match the silver eagles of full colonels. Majors were then given gold oak leaves to distinguish them from lieutenant colonels. Once the precedent of silver outranking gold was set, it was followed when gold bars were later created for second lieutenants, who had no grade-specific insignia until the early 20th century.

During the 1990s, Air Force Chief of Staff General Merrill A. McPeak redesigned the service dress uniform to give it a more distinctive look. His redesign replaced the metal rank insignia for officers with silver braid on the sleeves, similar to the Navy's officer rank insignia. This was done in the traditions of the British Royal Air Force, and the Canadian Forces. The "McPeak uniform" was very unpopular, drawing comparisons to the jackets worn by airline pilots, and the traditional rank insignia were reinstated shortly after General McPeak's retirement.