Ranks of the Royal Australian Air Force

The rank structure of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has been inherited from the Royal Air Force (RAF). The RAF based its officer ranks on the Royal Navy, and its airmen ranks on the British Army.

Unlike the RAF, RAAF rank abbreviations are always written in uppercase without spaces (e.g. Pilot Officer is written as PLTOFF, not Plt Off).

The rank insignia is very similar to that of the RAF for Corporal and above and for all officers. However the RAAF does not have the ranks of Senior Aircraftman, Junior Technician, Chief Technician or Master Aircrew. In 2022 the RAF renamed their lower ranks of Aircraftman (AC) to Air Recruit (AR) and Leading Aircraftman (LAC) to the ranks of Air Specialist '(Class 2 and 1)' and '(Class 1) Technician' to be more inclusive as they did not have the Aircraftwoman title for female service members. Both officers and airmen wear rank insignia on the chest when wearing General Purpose Uniform or Disruptive Pattern Combat Uniform. Rank insignia is worn on the shoulder in all other orders of dress with the exception of the Service Dress tunic where it is worn on the cuff for officers and lower sleeve for Warrant Officers and the upper sleeve for airmen in their tunic and the sleeve of all enlisted Physical Training Instructors (PTIs) working uniform. The word 'Australia' appears immediately below all rank insignia worn on the shoulder or chest.

The most senior active rank of the RAAF, Air Marshal – a three-star rank, is held by the Chief of Air Force.^[a] On the occasions that the Chief of the Defence Force is an officer of the RAAF, the rank of Air Chief Marshal is awarded. The rank of Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force has never been held as an active rank, however it is held as an honorary rank; previously by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh until his death in 2021,^[1] and currently by Charles III, King of Australia as the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Force.^{[citation needed]}

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