What was Johnny Cash's rank when discharged from the Air Force?

Johnny Cash was discharged from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of staff sergeant. He enlisted on July 7, 1950, during the Korean War era, and served for four years before receiving an honorable discharge on July 3, 1954.

Cash trained at Lackland and Brooks Air Force Bases in San Antonio, Texas, then joined the 12th Radio Squadron Mobile of the Air Force Security Service in West Germany. His work involved intercepting and decoding Soviet military communications, a highly specialized assignment far removed from his later public image as a country singer.

After returning to Texas, Cash moved toward music full time. He soon formed a group with Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant, who became the Tennessee Two, and brought the group to Sun Records in Memphis. The rank is sometimes confused with technical sergeant or master sergeant, but contemporary biographical accounts identify his final Air Force rank as staff sergeant.