Since 2004, a pair of stars bookending the Great Seal of the United States has been the focal point of the unique rank insignia worn by the Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force (CMSAF), and on 1 October 2018 it was officially adapted in spice-brown format for wear on the newly introduced Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) uniform.
But Airmen did not have to wait until that date to see what it would look like, because the Air Force’s 18th CMSAF, Kaleth O. Wright, had tweeted photos of the OCP version on 22 March 2018—nearly two months before the Air Force’s first announcement that the OCP had been officially approved as the replacement for the Airman Battle Uniform (ABU). The ABU had been formally mandated for wear less than seven years earlier on 1 November 2011.
In addition to a revamped camouflage pattern, the OCP uniform also features chest-mounted rank insignia, replacing the ABU system of sew-on shoulder chevrons for Enlisted personnel and collar insignia for Officers. The OCP retains the rules for Officers’ rank display on the Patrol Cap (centered and sewn onto the front of cap) and, like the OCP insignia rules in the Army, Airmen are allowed choose between Velcro and Sew-on insignia for the coat (but rank attachment type must match attachment type of the name tape and USAF tape).
More Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Insignias