United States Air Force facts for kids

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. It was a part of the United States Army until September 18, 1947. 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.

Warrant officers

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

Enlisted airmen

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.

Images for kids

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  The first F-35 Lightning II of the 33rd Fighter Wing arriving at Eglin AFB

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  An Air Force RQ-4 strategic reconnaissance aircraft

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  An Air Force KC-46 Pegasus refuels a C-17A Globemaster III

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  An Air Force A-10 demonstrating close air support at Nellis AFB

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  Test launch of a LGM-30 Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Vandenberg AFB

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  Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base

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  Roundels that have appeared on U.S. military aircraft 1.) 5/1917–2/1918 2.) 2/1918–8/1919 3.) 8/1919–5/1942 4.) 5/1942–6/1943 5.) 6/1943–9/1943 6.) 9/1943–1/1947 7.) 1/1947–

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  The SR-71 Blackbird was a Cold War reconnaissance plane.

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  A row of Douglas C-54 Skymasters during the Berlin Airlift in 1949

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  Organization of the United States Air Force within the Department of Defense

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  USAF Airmen training at Lackland AFB

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  A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft

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  A C-17 Globemaster III, the USAF's newest and most versatile transport plane

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  E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system

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  F-22 Raptor stealth air superiority fighter

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  KC-10 Extender tri-jet air-to-air tanker

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  An MC-12W Liberty at Beale AFB

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  MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle

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  Lockheed U-2 spy plane

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  RQ-170 Sentinel stealth unmanned aerial vehicle reconnaissance aircraft

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  VC-25A (Air Force One)

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  A WC-130J Hercules from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron

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  An unarmed Minuteman III ICBM shoots out of the silo during an operational test launch