Editing Officer candidate (section)

====U.S. Air Force====
In the [[United States Air Force]], officer candidates are known as Officer Trainees (OT) and are trained at the [[Officer Training School]] (OTS) at [[Maxwell AFB]], Alabama.

Similar to the Army officer candidates, Air Force officer trainees exist in a gray zone with regard to rank, and their status does not directly correspond to a position of seniority or authority within the standard Air Force ranks.  Typically, they are referred to or addressed as "OT," and during the first few weeks of indoctrination, are treated much the same as a new recruit.  The pay for an officer trainee, however, is equal to an [[E-5 (rank)|E-5]] on the enlisted pay scale, unless the candidate previously achieved a higher enlisted rank than E-5, e.g., an [[E-7 (rank)|E-7]] who becomes a candidate would continue to receive E-7 pay, and so on.  Once commissioned, the new officer advances to the pay rate of [[U.S. uniformed services pay grades|O-1]], unless they have at least four years of active duty service, in which case they are paid the higher O-1E rate in recognition of the prior enlisted service.  Such pay continues at promotion to the next two grades ("O-2E" and "O-3E"), but is discontinued at the grade of [[U.S. uniformed services pay grades|O-4]].

OT rank insignia loosely parallels that of [[Air Force ROTC]] and [[United States Air Force Academy Cadet Insignia]], except in the case of the directly commissioned [[Officer Training School#Commissioned Officer Training|chaplains, lawyers, and medical personnel]].