Airman
Encyclopedia
An airman is a member of the air component of a nation's armed service. In the United States Air Force
and the Royal Air Force
(in which airwoman is also seen), it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. More informally, it can refer to any member of an air force
, or to any pilot
, aviator, or aircrewman, military or civilian, male or female.
In civilian aviation usage, the term "airman" is analogous to the term "sailor
" in nautical usage. (U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard members are almost all sailors, even on naval and Coast Guard shore bases, but the subset of these who actually serve at sea in ships and boats are also "seamen". Further, people in these services who are involved in flying are also "airmen".) In the American Federal Aviation Administration
usage, an airman is any holder of an airman's certificate, male or female. This certificate is issued to those who qualify for it by the Federal Aviation Administration Airmen Certification Branch.
In the U.S. Air Force, Airman is a general term which can refer to any member of the United States Air Force, and also a specific enlisted rank. The rank of Airman (abbreviated "AMN") is the second enlisted rank from the bottom, just above the rank of Airman Basic
, and just below that of airman first class
. Since the Air Force was established 1947, all of the various ranks of "airman" have always included females, and in this context, the word "man" means "human being" or human resource
. Former U.S. Air Force ranks included airman second class and airman third class.In 1967, there was significant reorganization of the enlisted ranks, and the former rank of "airman first class" became an "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.
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:
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 Lackland Air Force Base
, Texas
. They also receive their 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 has enlisted as airmen on the first day, as far as their pay is concerned. However, if they don't complete basic training, but rather they get expelled, they don't get 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 (their "jobs") that they and the Air Force have selected for them depending on their aptitudes and interests, and the needs of the Air Force for various specialties. For airmen with high aptitudes, some of these training programs include more than one school and take one year or more to complete. Some airmen are preparing for duty in highly-skilled Air Force jobs including as technicians for multiple types of airplanes, long-range missiles
, helicopter
s, jet engine
s and turboprop
engines, electronics
, radar
s, explosive ordnance
and weapons, air-to-air missile
s, nuclear weapon
s, computers, communication systems, high-technology security systems; technicians and assistants in the medical field, including nurses, physician's assistants, dental assistant
s, and many more.
Because of their single stripe & star insignia, airmen are often nicknamed "mosquito wings", "speed bumps", "wingnuts", or simply "one-stripers".
In the U.S. Navy, airman is the enlisted man's rank that corresponds to the pay grade of E-3 in the Navy's aviation field. Airman is just above the naval rank of airman apprentice
, seaman apprentice
, fireman apprentice, hospitalman apprentice, and so forth on the E-2 pay grade, but it is just below the rank of petty officer third class
(E-4).The following rates (actual job names and functions) fall within the category of "airman" and are all at the E-3 pay grade:
) fly from land bases, and Coast Guard helicopters, with rare exceptions, fly from either land bases or from the Coast Guard cutters that are equipped with small helicopter decks.
Coast Guard airman is the enlisted man's rank that corresponds to the pay grade of E-3 in the Coast Guard's aviation field (note that airman and enlisted man includes females. Here "man" means "human being".) Airman is just above the Coast Guard rank of airman apprentice
, seaman apprentice
, fireman apprentice, hospitalman apprentice, and so forth on the E-2 pay grade, but it is just below the rank of petty officer third class
(E-4).
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
and the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
(in which airwoman is also seen), it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. More informally, it can refer to any member of an air force
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
, or to any pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, aviator, or aircrewman, military or civilian, male or female.
In civilian aviation usage, the term "airman" is analogous to the term "sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
" in nautical usage. (U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard members are almost all sailors, even on naval and Coast Guard shore bases, but the subset of these who actually serve at sea in ships and boats are also "seamen". Further, people in these services who are involved in flying are also "airmen".) In the American Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
usage, an airman is any holder of an 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
Airman Basic
Airman Basic is the lowest enlisted rank in the United States Air Force , immediately below Airman. The pay grade for Airman Basic is E-1.As opposed to all other USAF enlisted and officer ranks, Airman Basic has no rank insignia affiliated...
, and just below that of airman first class
Airman First Class
Airman first class is the third enlisted rank in the United States Air Force, just above airman and below senior airman. The rank of airman first class is considered a junior enlisted rank, with the non-commissioned officers and senior non-commissioned officers above it.Airman first class is a...
. Since the Air Force was established 1947, all of the various ranks of "airman" have always included females, and in this context, the word "man" means "human being" or human resource
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
. Former U.S. Air Force ranks included airman second class and airman third class.In 1967, there was significant reorganization of the enlisted ranks, and the former rank of "airman first class" became an "air force sergeant
Senior Airman
Senior airman is the fourth enlisted rank in the United States Air Force, just above airman first class and below staff sergeant. It has a pay grade of E-4...
"; 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.
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 Junior Reserve Officers' Training CorpsJunior Reserve Officers' Training CorpsThe Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a Federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools across the United States...
(Junior ROTC) while in high schoolHigh schoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. These programs are sponsored and taught by four of the services at hundreds of the larger high schools in the United States and its possessions (but only one program per school).These Junior ROTC programs, which are taught just like regular high school courses, and they include the oldest program, Junior ROTC, taught by the Army; and three ones that were established later: Air Force Jr. ROTC; Naval Junior ROTC; and Marine Corps Junior ROTC. There is no fixed rule for their locations, but Air Force Jr. ROTC classes tend to be located in the vicinity of Air Force Bases; Naval Jr. ROTC classes tend to be taught in the vicinity of Naval Bases and Naval Air Stations; and Army Jr. ROTC classes are located anywhere at all.
- Having achieved the eagle scoutEagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
level from the Boy Scouts of AmericaBoy Scouts of AmericaThe Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
, or the gold award from the Girl Scouts 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 Lackland Air Force Base
Lackland Air Force Base
Lackland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located west-southwest of San Antonio, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command ....
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. They also receive their 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 has enlisted as airmen on the first day, as far as their pay is concerned. However, if they don't complete basic training, but rather they get expelled, they don't get 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 (their "jobs") that they and the Air Force have selected for them depending on their aptitudes and interests, and the needs of the Air Force for various specialties. For airmen with high aptitudes, some of these training programs include more than one school and take one year or more to complete. Some airmen are preparing for duty in highly-skilled Air Force jobs including as technicians for multiple types of airplanes, long-range missiles
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...
, helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s, jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s and turboprop
Turboprop
A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
engines, electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
, radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
s, explosive ordnance
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and weapons, air-to-air missile
Air-to-air missile
An air-to-air missile is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled...
s, nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s, computers, communication systems, high-technology security systems; technicians and assistants in the medical field, including nurses, physician's assistants, dental assistant
Dental assistant
Dental assistants assist the dental operator provide more efficient dental treatment, by preparing the patient for treatment, sterilizing instruments, passing instruments during the procedure, holding a suction device, exposing dental radiographs, taking impressions, and fabricating provisional...
s, and many more.
Because of their single stripe & star insignia, airmen are often nicknamed "mosquito wings", "speed bumps", "wingnuts", or simply "one-stripers".
United States Navy
Seaman Apprentice
ConstructionmanvariationFiremanvariationAirmanvariationSeamaninsigniaSeaman apprentice is the second lowest enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above seaman recruit and below seaman; this rank was formerly known as seaman second class.The actual title for an E-2 in the U.S....
, seaman apprentice
Seaman Apprentice
ConstructionmanvariationFiremanvariationAirmanvariationSeamaninsigniaSeaman apprentice is the second lowest enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above seaman recruit and below seaman; this rank was formerly known as seaman second class.The actual title for an E-2 in the U.S....
, fireman apprentice, hospitalman apprentice, and so forth on the E-2 pay grade, but it is just below the rank of petty officer third class
Petty Officer Third Class
U.S. NavyGood conductvariationU.S. NavyPetty officerthird classinsigniaPetty officer third class is the fourth enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above seaman and below petty officer second class, and is the lowest rank of non-commissioned officer, equivalent to a corporal in...
(E-4).The following rates (actual job names and functions) fall within the category of "airman" and are all at the E-3 pay grade:
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United States Coast Guard
In the U.S. Coast Guard, the ranks are very similar or identical to the ones in the U.S. Navy (above), and an Coast Guard airman is identical in rank and pay to an airman in the Navy. They also have very similar duties, except that Coast Guard airmen are not usually involved with aircraft carriers. All Coast Guard fixed-wing airplanes (such as the C-130 HerculesC-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
) fly from land bases, and Coast Guard helicopters, with rare exceptions, fly from either land bases or from the Coast Guard cutters that are equipped with small helicopter decks.
Coast Guard airman is the enlisted man's rank that corresponds to the pay grade of E-3 in the Coast Guard's aviation field (note that airman and enlisted man includes females. Here "man" means "human being".) Airman is just above the Coast Guard rank of airman apprentice
Seaman Apprentice
ConstructionmanvariationFiremanvariationAirmanvariationSeamaninsigniaSeaman apprentice is the second lowest enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above seaman recruit and below seaman; this rank was formerly known as seaman second class.The actual title for an E-2 in the U.S....
, seaman apprentice
Seaman Apprentice
ConstructionmanvariationFiremanvariationAirmanvariationSeamaninsigniaSeaman apprentice is the second lowest enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above seaman recruit and below seaman; this rank was formerly known as seaman second class.The actual title for an E-2 in the U.S....
, fireman apprentice, hospitalman apprentice, and so forth on the E-2 pay grade, but it is just below the rank of petty officer third class
Petty Officer Third Class
U.S. NavyGood conductvariationU.S. NavyPetty officerthird classinsigniaPetty officer third class is the fourth enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, just above seaman and below petty officer second class, and is the lowest rank of non-commissioned officer, equivalent to a corporal in...
(E-4).
See also
- SoldierSoldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
- SeamanSeamanSeaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....
- U.S. Air Force enlisted rank insignia
- U.S. Navy enlisted rate insignia
- RAF enlisted ranksRAF enlisted ranksThe term used in the Royal Air Force to refer to all ranks below commissioned officer level is Other Ranks . It includes Warrant Officers, non-commissioned officers , and airmen.-Ranks:-Origins:...
- AirmanAirman (novel)Airman, by Eoin Colfer, is a best-selling historical adventure novel set in the 19th century. It was released in the UK, Ireland and USA in January 2008. The novel was shortlisted for the 2009 Carnegie Medal....
(novel)