Staff Sergeant (SSgt) is E-5 in the U.S. Air Force, just above
Senior Airman and below
Technical Sergeant. It is the Air Force's first non-commissioned officer rank as well as the first Air Force rank to which promotion is on a competitive basis. Senior Airmen are considered for promotion if they attain that rank on or before Feb 1st of that testing year. This is so that they will have a minimum of 6 months time-in-grade before the first promotion date of that testing year, however in a normal career progression one achieves this grade after 5 to 7 years in service. Staff Sergeants are expected to be technically proficient and function as first-line supervisors within a workcenter. After being selected for promotion Senior Airmen must attend Airman Leadership School, which teaches them basic leadership and how to write performance reports. The term of address is Staff Sergeant or Sergeant.
