The U.S. Air Force uses the Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) system to indicate the military job performed by each servicemember. Different AFSCs are used for various career fields and the scheme varies for officers and enlisted personnel.

Enlisted AFSCs

Generally speaking, all enlisted (airman and non-commissioned officer) personnel have a 5-character AFSC. The first digit represents a general career area:

• 1: Operations


• 2: Logistics


• 3: Support


• 4: Medical


• 5: Professional


• 6: Acquisitions


• 7: Special Investigations


• 8: Special Duty Identifiers


• 9: Reporting Identifiers

The second and third characters identify a career group and career field. The fourth character represents the individual’s skill level:

• 1: Helper


• 3: Apprentice


• 5: Journeyman


• 7: Craftsman


• 9: Superintendent


• 0: Chief Enlisted Manager

The final character represents the specific duty of the airman. For example, an airman with an AFSC of 1N378 has the following characterstics:

• 1: Operations Career Area


• N: Intelligence Career Group


• 3: Cryptologic Linguist Career Field


• 7: Craftsman Skill Level


• 8: Polynesian Language

For more details, view our lists of enlisted AFSCs:

• Operations Enlisted AFSCs


• Logistics Enlisted AFSCs


• Support Enlisted AFSCs


• Medical Enlisted AFSCs


• Other Enlisted AFSCs

Officer AFSCs

Officer AFSCs follow a slightly different system. Each is only four characters and is constructed as follows:

• First Character: Career Group (same as enlisted)


• Second Character: Utilization Field


• Third Character: Functional Area


• Fourth Character: Qualification Level

For more information on Officer AFSCs, see our listings:

• Operations Officer AFSCs


• Logistics Officer AFSCs


• Support Officer AFSCs


• Medical Officer AFSCs


• Other Officer AFSCs

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