182:, except for those who signed up for an extended enlistment. They receive their promotions to airman first class twenty weeks after graduation from basic military training or graduation from their technical training schools, whichever comes first. Enlistees who have signed up for initial six-year enlistment periods have usually qualified and done so in return for a guarantee of up to two years of training in Department of Defense and Air Force schools in highly-technical specialities such as electronics, weapons systems, physician's assistant or nursing. To qualify for all of this, the enlistee must have graduated from high school and scored highly on Air Force technical aptitude tests. On the bottom line, they spend up to two years in training at the expense of the Air Force, and then they pay back by serving at least an additional four years after their schooling. They also get an early promotion to airman first class as additional compensation.
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first class. However, if for some reason they get expelled from basic training, they do not receive this extra pay, and just get paid as airmen basic for the time that they spent in the Air Force before getting discharged. This is after the Air Force deducts the cost of basic hygiene products and other costs like shaving razors from the recruits.
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Those who are promoted to this level upon completion of basic training also receive a retroactive pay increment that brings them up to the E-3 pay grade corresponding to airman first class, going back to day one of their enlistment. In other words, they get paid as if they had enlisted as an airman
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added as a second, non-supervisory, E-4 rank in 1976 – continuing until 1998, when the last E-4 buck sergeant left the Air Force, and all remaining (and future) E-4s carried the name senior airman.
57:. The male form of rank designation also applies to women. The rank of airman first class is considered a junior enlisted rank, with the non-commissioned officers and senior non-commissioned officers above it.
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Airmen first class are considered to be fully adjusted to Air Force and military life, and their duties focus on efficiently and effectively carrying out their assignments and honing their job skills.
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Over those years, as the air force changed rank names for the E-1 through E-4 paygrades, some names were moved between ranks. In greater detail, from 1947 to 1952, the E-3 rank was named "air force
99:", renamed "airman second class" (A2C) in 1952, and, as stated, renamed airman first class since 1967. From 1952 to 1959, the E-1 rank was "basic airman", wording rearranged to
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Those personnel who qualify for these early promotions to airman first class wear the insignia of this rank during their basic training graduation ceremonies at
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68:, although it is not currently in use. In documents about the history of U.S. armed forces, this combination of pay grade and rate is abbreviated as "A1C".
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in 1967; and, from 1952 to 1967, the E-4 rank was, as stated, "airman first class", renamed to "air force
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294:" Air Force Instruction 36-2002, Enlisted Accessions. Paragraph 4.5.1, Table 4.1, Rule 2. 11 July 2017.
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Completion of 10 months time in the grade of airman (or earlier for airmen with specific specialities)
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from 1959, left unchanged since; the E-2 rank was "airman third class" (A3C), renamed to simply
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At its cleanest, the rank name "airman first class", created in 1952, first applied to the
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http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/afi36-2002/afi36-2002.pdf
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are temporary and lateral ranks and are senior to their non-diamond counterparts, while
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The U.S. Navy has very similar six-year enlistments for nuclear power, and electronics.
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first sergeants have no lateral movement within paygrade and is a permanent rank.
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of E-4 (1952–1967), then was applied to the paygrade of E-3, from 1967 onward.
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wings" due to the insignia's resemblance to that insect's two pairs of wings.
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Promotion to airman first class occurs upon one or more of the following:
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256:"A Chronology of the Enlisted Rank Chevron of the United States Air Force"
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The rank insignia is used by other Coast Guard senior enlisted leaders.
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Agreeing to an extended-length enlistment (normally six years).
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151:(JROTC) sponsored by any of the four branches of the service
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Airman first class is a rank that has also been used by the
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243:"A Chronology of the Air Force Enlisted Chevrons"
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272:Cadet Super Chart. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
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154:Completion of two years of college-level
161:Earning the Billy Mitchell Award in the
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76:Airmen first class are often nicknamed "
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149:Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
139:An airman first class-ranked technician
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1440:United States military enlisted ranks
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199:U.S. Air Force enlisted rank insignia
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260:Air Force Historical Research Agency
45:) is the third enlisted rank in the
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147:Completion of three years of the
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115:"buck sergeant"), a supervisory
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156:Reserve Officer Training Corps
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262:, February 19, 1992, page 14.
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34:Airman First Class insignia
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204:United States military pay
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27:US Air Force military rank
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119:, in 1967, with the name
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117:non-commissioned officer
176:Lackland Air Force Base
47:United States Air Force
351:Branch of service
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277:2011-07-19 at the
180:San Antonio, Texas
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39:Airman first class
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18:Airman First Class
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55:senior airman
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49:, just above
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1401:Marine Corps
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580:Marine Corps
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101:airman basic
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38:
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1240:Coast Guard
1103:Space Force
1424:Categories
230:References
53:and below
1393:Air Force
1365:– DMCPOCG
912:Air Force
347:Pay grade
78:dragonfly
72:Etymology
62:U.S. Navy
1387:For the
275:Archived
245:, page 5
193:See also
128:Criteria
109:sergeant
97:corporal
64:and the
1061:1st Sgt
1031:1st Sgt
1007:1st Sgt
401:Special
84:History
1379:MCPOCG
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1088:SEANGB
1080:
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710:SgtMaj
706:MGySgt
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686:1stSgt
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158:(ROTC)
113:a.k.a.
105:airman
51:airman
1229:CMSSF
1210:CMSgt
1197:SMSgt
1092:CMSAF
1057:CMSgt
1027:SMSgt
901:MCPON
882:FLTCM
878:FORCM
874:CMDCM
845:CMDCS
663:GySgt
210:Notes
1391:and
1389:Army
1359:MCPO
1334:SCPO
1233:SEAC
1186:MSgt
1175:TSgt
1153:Spc4
1142:Spc3
1131:Spc2
1120:Spc1
1096:SEAC
1063:¹ –
1003:MSgt
984:TSgt
973:SSgt
905:SEAC
870:MCPO
841:SCPO
741:Navy
734:SEAC
730:SMMC
682:MSgt
652:SSgt
619:LCpl
573:SEAC
408:Army
1363:CMC
1323:CPO
1312:PO1
1301:PO2
1290:PO3
1164:Sgt
1065:CCM
962:SrA
951:A1C
940:Amn
824:CPO
813:PO1
802:PO2
791:PO3
641:Sgt
630:Cpl
608:PFC
597:Pvt
569:SMA
550:CSM
546:SGM
526:1SG
522:MSG
503:SFC
492:SSG
481:SGT
470:CPL
466:SPC
447:PFC
436:PV2
425:PVT
396:E-9
391:E-8
386:E-7
381:E-6
376:E-5
371:E-4
366:E-3
361:E-2
356:E-1
178:in
111:" (
43:A1C
1426::
1395:,
1361:–
1279:SN
1268:SA
1257:SR
1231:–
1094:–
1090:–
1059:–
1033:¹
1029:–
1009:¹
1005:–
929:AB
903:–
880:,
876:–
872:–
843:–
780:SN
769:SA
758:SR
732:–
708:–
688:¹
684:–
571:–
548:–
528:¹
524:–
468:–
258:,
324:e
317:t
310:v
290:"
281:.
41:(
20:)
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