Considered an optional item for any uniform featuring the necktie, this tack / clasp may be worn by Airmen who have reached at least the paygrade of E-2 Airman, a rank title established in October 1967. Tie tacks / clasps are worn centered both horizontally and between the bottom of the knot and the bottom tip of the tie (which must cover at least some of the belt buckle without extending past its bottom).
For the 15 years leading up to that time, the E-2 Enlisted rank was designated Airman Third Class, replacing the designation Private First Class that had been used for E-2 personnel from the time of the service’s creation until 24 April 1952. More than two years before that, however, Air Force Chief of Staff issued a directive that enlisted Air Force personnel would be called “Airmen” in order to distinguish them from Sailors and, more importantly, Soldiers.
While it takes most enlisted Air Force personnel roughly six months to be promoted to the E-2 paygrade and receive their first rank insignia (E-1 personnel are designated as “Airmen Basic” and have no insignia of rank), enlisted personnel can begin their career as E-2 Airmen or even E-3 Airman First Class by achieving certain milestones in programs such as Boy and Girl Scouts, Junior ROTC, or the Civil Air Patrol.
More E-2 Airman Insignia and Devices