The Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) is an alphanumeric code used by the United States Air Force to identify an Air Force Specialty (AFS). Officer AFSCs consist of four characters and enlisted AFSCs consist of five characters. A letter prefix or suffix may be used with an AFSC when more specific identification of position requirements and individual qualifications is necessary. The AFSC is similar to the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) used by the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps. Generally speaking, the term alphanumeric refers to anything that consists of only letters and numbers. ... In communications, a code is a rule for converting a piece of information (for example, a letter, word, or phrase) into another form or representation, not necessarily of the same type. ... Aircraft of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing and coalition counterparts stationed together at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in southwest Asia, fly over the desert. ... An officer is a member of a military or naval service who holds a position of responsibility. ... In military service, an enlisted rank is generally any rating below that of a commissioned officer. ... A Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) is a job classification in use in the United States Army and Marine Corps. ... The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the U.S. military responsible for providing power projection from the sea,[1] utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces to global crises. ...

Enlisted AFSCs

The enlisted AFSC consists of five alphanumeric characters:

• Career Category (Numerical)
  • 1 (Operations)
  • 2 (Maintenance/Logistics)
  • 3 (Support)
  • 4 (Medical/Dental)
  • 5 (Legal/Chaplain)
  • 6 (Acquisition/Finance)
  • 7 (Special Investigation)
  • 8 (Special Duty Identifier, typically used for Airmen hand-picked for specialized jobs)
  • 9 (Reporting Identifier, typically used to identify the duties of Airmen in a transitive status, such as officer trainee, Airman awaiting retraining, prisoner, etc.)
• Career Group (Alpha, different for each)
• Career Field (Numerical, different for each)
• Skill Level
  • 1 – Helper (recruits or retrainees in technical school)
  • 3 – Apprentice (technical school graduates applying and expanding their job skills)
  • 5 – Journeyman (experienced Airmen functioning as front-line technicians and initial trainers)
  • 7 – Craftsman (Airmen with many years of experience in the specialty, responsible for supervision and training)
  • 9 – Superintendent (Airmen in the grade of Senior Master Sergeant responsible for broad supervision)
  • 0 – Chief Enlisted Manager (CEM) (Airmen in the grade of Chief Master Sergeant responsible for policy and direction on a broad scale, from the individual squadron to HQ USAF levels)
• Specific AFSC (Numeric, different for each career field subdivision)

For example, in the AFSC 1N371: Senior Master Sergeant insignia Senior Master Sergeant is the eighth enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force, just above Master Sergeant and below Chief Master Sergeant, and is a non-commissioned officer. ... Chief Master Sergeant is the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force, just above Senior Master Sergeant, and is a non-commissioned officer. ...

• The career group is 1 (Operations)
• The career field is N (Intelligence)
• The career field is 3 (Cryptographic Linguist)
• The skill level is 7 (Craftsman)
• The specific AFSC is 1 (Crypto-Linguist Specializing in a Germanic Language)

For some specialties, an alpha prefix is used to denote a special ability, skill, qualification or system designator not restricted to a single AFSC. Additionally, an alpha suffix (a “shredout”) denotes positions associated with particular equipment or functions within a single specialty. Using the above example, the AFSC 1N371E would refer to an Afrikaans Cryptologic Linguist. Military intelligence (abbreviated MI, int. ... The German Lorenz cipher machine, used in World War II for encryption of very high-level general staff messages Cryptography (or cryptology; derived from Greek κρυπτός kryptós hidden, and the verb γράφω gráfo write) is the study of message secrecy. ... Linguistics is the scientific study of language. ...

Here is an extended listing of AFSC groups. Most categories have numerous actual AFSCs in them.

Operations

1A - Aircrew Operations

1C - Command & Control Sytems Operations

1N - Intelligence

1T - Aircrew Protection

1S - Safety

1W - Weather

Maintenance & Logistics

2A - Manned Aerospace Maintenance

2E - Communications & Electronics
2E0X1 - Ground Radar Systems, 2E1X1 - Satellite, Wideband and Telemtry Systems, 2E1X2 - Airfield Systems, 2E1X3 - Ground Radio Maintenance, 2E1X4 - Visual Imagery and Intrusion Detection Systems, 2E2X1 - Computer, Network, Switching and Cryptographic Systems, 2E6X2 - Communications Cable and Antenna Systems

2F - Fuels

2G - Logistics Plans

2M - Missile & Space Systems Maintenance

2P - Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory

2R - Maintenance Management Systems

2S - Supply

2T - Transportation & Vehicle Maintenance

2W - Munitions & Weapons

Support

3A - Information Management

3C - Communications & Computer Systems

3H - Historian

3M - Services

3N - Public Affairs

3P - Security Forces (Military Police)

3E - Civil Engineering

3S - Mission Support

3U - Manpower

3V - Visual Information

Medical & Dental

4X - Medical

4Y - Dental

Legal & Chaplain

5J - Paralegal

5R - Chaplain Assistant

Finance & Contracting

6C - Contracting

6F - Financial

Special Investigations

7S - Special Investigations (OSI)

Officer AFSCs

The officer AFSC consists of four alphanumeric characters:

• Career Group (Numerical)
  • 1 (Operations)
  • 2 (Logistics)
  • 3 (Support)
  • 4 (Medical or Dental)
  • 5 (Legal or Chaplain)
  • 6 (Acquisition or Finance)
  • 7 (Special Investigation)
  • 8 (Special Duty Identified)
  • 9 (Reporting Identifier)
• Utilization Field (Numerical, different for each)
• Functional Area (Alpha, different for each)
• Qualification Level
  • 0 – Qualified commander (when used in conjunction with “C” in the 3rd position)
  • 1 – Entry (any AFSC)
  • 2 – Intermediate (is only used for pilots, bomber navigators, and missile launch officers)
  • 3 – Qualified (any AFSC)
  • 4 – Staff (relates only to the level of functional responsibility and is restricted to positions above wing level; it does not denote additional specialty qualifications)

For example, in the AFSC 11A4: A chaplain is typically a member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organized as a mission or church; lay chaplains are also found in some settings such as universities. ... An aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping boobs. ... Exocet missile in flight A missile (see also pronunciation differences) is a projectile propelled as a weapon at a target. ... Wing is a term used by different air forces for a unit of command. ...

• The career group is 11 (Pilot)
• The functional area is A (Airlift)
• The qualification level is 4 (Staff)

As with enlisted AFSCs, prefixes and suffixes may be applied to make the AFSC more specific. In logistics and military terminology: An airlift is the act of transporting people or cargo from point to point using aircraft. ...

Additional information

During the course of their Air Force careers, Airmen sometimes switch jobs and receive multiple AFSCs to denote training in multiple specialties. A Primary AFSC (PAFSC) is the designation for the specialty in which the individual possesses the highest skill level and is, therefore, the AFS that he or she is best qualified to perform. The Duty AFSC (DAFSC) reflects the actual manpower position the Airman is assigned to. The Control AFSC (CAFSC) is a management tool to make assignments, assist in determining training requirements, and consider individuals for promotion. Often an enlisted Airman's PAFSC will reflect a higher skill level than his or her CAFSC since the CAFSC skill level is tied to rank while the PAFSC skill level is tied to performance and education.

The “normal” situation for most Airmen is for the PAFSC, DAFSC, and CAFSC to be the same; however, there are situations (retraining, special duties, Air Force-level changes and other situations either within or beyond an Airman's control) when the three will differ. Additionally, Airmen retraining into other specialties will acquire one or more Secondary AFSCs (2AFSC, 3AFSC, etc).

See also

• Air Education and Training Command
• Military education and training
• Military Occupational Specialty (Army equivalent)

Air Education and Training Command (AETC), with headquarters at Randolph AFB near San Antonio, Texas, was established July 1, 1993, with the realignment of Air Training Command and Air University. ... Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. ... A Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) is a job classification in use in the United States Army and Marine Corps. ...

References

• AFI 36-2101, Classifying Military Personnel (Officer and Enlisted) (PDF)

External links

• USAF Career Field Breakdown (PDF)
• About.com: AFSC listing
• Unofficial 3C0 webpage: 3C0X1.net