Editing Airman basic (section)

{{Short description|United States Air Force rank}}
{{Multiple image
|image1=DCS04980.jpg
|caption1=Airmen basic march in column formation as part of their graduation ceremony at [[Lackland Air Force Base]] in March 1999.
|image2=AirmanBasic.jpg
|caption2=In October 2000, airmen basic stand in formation, awaiting graduation.  An airman basic wears no rank insignia.}}
'''Airman basic''' ('''AB''') is the lowest enlisted rank in the [[United States Air Force]] immediately below [[airman#United States Air Force|airman]]. The male form of rank designation also applies to women. The [[U.S. uniformed services pay grades|pay grade]] for airman basic is E-1.<ref name="DoDrank">{{cite web
|url= http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/enlisted.html
|title= Department of Defense Enlisted Rank Insignias
|access-date= 2008-08-02
|work= U.S. Department of Defense Official Website
|publisher= [[United States Department of Defense]]
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080617194102/http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/enlisted.html| archive-date= 17 June 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

As opposed to all other USAF enlisted and officer ranks, airman basic has no rank insignia affiliated.<ref name="DoDrank" /><ref name="afmilranks">{{cite web
|url= https://www.af.mil/News/airman/0102/grades2/
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080121003246/http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0102/grades2.html
|archive-date= 2008-01-21
|title= Air Force Grade and Insignia
|access-date= 2008-08-02
|work= Air Force Link
|url-status= live
|publisher= [[United States Department of Defense]]
}}</ref>  The lack of uniform insignia for airman basic is the reason for the nickname "slick-sleeve"; all other enlisted Air Force ranks wear stripes and chevrons on their uniform sleeves.<ref name="slang">{{cite encyclopedia
 | last = Partridge
 | first = Eric
 |author2=Tom Dalzell|author3=Terry Victor
 | encyclopedia = The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
 | title = slick-sleeve
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mAdUqLrKw4YC&dq=%22airman+basic%22+%22slick+sleeve%22&pg=PA1779
 | access-date = 2008-08-02
 | date = 2005-12-05
 | publisher = TF-ROUTL
 | isbn = 978-0-415-25938-5
 | pages = 1779
 | quote = a US Army private E-1; a US Air Force airman basic; a police recruit; 'slick' because he has no stripes on his sleeve
}}</ref>

In accordance with [[Air Force Instruction]] (AFI) 36-2618, ''The Enlisted Force Structure'', the term of address for an airman basic is "Airman Basic" or "Airman".<ref name="afi36-2618">
{{cite manual| author= [[Senior Master Sergeant|SMSgt]] Ronnie L. Murphy| title= The Enlisted Force Structure| section= Attachment 2| publisher= [[United States Secretary of the Air Force]], [[United States Air Force]]| date= 2004-12-01| url= http://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_a1/publication/afi36-2618/afi36-2618.pdf| access-date= 2008-08-02| quote= This instruction defines the enlisted force structure, establishes enlisted leadership and development levels, specifies responsibilities of each enlisted rank within the structure, establishes official terms of address for Air Force enlisted personnel, describes special SNCO positions, and standardizes duty titles.| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080625175458/http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/afi36-2618.pdf| archive-date= 25 June 2008| url-status= dead| df= dmy-all}}
</ref>