This week I’m going to talk about how pay works and rankings. It’s based on your ranking and years of service. So you can range from an E-1 (pay will differ for the first 4 months) to an E-7. There are also officer rankings with a whole different pay scale but I’m just going to focus on the enlisted pay.

This is monthly pay ranging from less than two years to three years:

E-1 Airman Basic: $2,108.10

E-2 Airman: $2,362.80

E-3 Airman First Class: $2,484-$2,800.80

E-4 Senior Airman: $2,752-$3,049.80

E-5 Staff Sergeant: $3,001-$3,358.80

E-6 Technical Sergeant: $3,276-$3,765

E-7 Master Sergeant: $3,788-$4,293

Generally, you’ll get paid on the 1st and 15th of the month. If you are not claiming dependents, your paycheck will contain your base pay. If you are claiming dependents, your paycheck will contain your base pay as well as your housing allowance. Taxes and other deductions will be taken out. There are also special pay benefits Special Pay is additional monthly and/or annual pay given to eligible active duty service members who perform certain specific duties, serve in specific geographic locations, occupy specific Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC), or are given certain specific assignments.

So now you’re probably wondering how you rank up and how long it takes. Airman Basic (E-1) is eligible for promotion to Airman (E-2) with six months time-in-grade. E-2 is eligible for promotion to Airman First Class (E-3) with 10 months time-in-grade. E-3 is eligible for promotion to Senior Airman (E-4) in as little as 18 months or up to 24 months time-in-grade (depending on earlier promotions). Promotion to Staff Sergeant (E-5) and beyond is based on how hard you study and apply yourself.

Ratings across the following factors determine who is promoted each year:

Points earned from medals or decorations received

Scores based on annual performance reports

Scores from written promotion test(s).

Airmen also tend to take two tests. The first one being, SKT (Specialty Knowledge Test), is used to compute your job knowledge score. The other one is, the PDG (Professional Development Guide), which is used to compute your overall Air Force knowledge & leadership ability. Which will help you advance in your job.