Why don't all members of the Air Force have to be fully qualified to be a rifleman in case of hostile events?

Safety does not want to take control of weapons safety. They are afraid of it. That is why it is still in the charge of COMBAT ARMS.

@SSgt Garrett Christ why is it outrageous that they haven't deployed if they are not needed down range? When I went to Iraq I saw alot of people there for no real purpose other than the military seemed to think they needed them deployed. That was why, I assume, there was a dance club and RC Car track on Balad, already, in 2004.

LOL you are right my reference was misguided and unspecified my real target on the outrageous remark was towards those who "squat" in one location and refuse to budge or are a "deployment dodger" and still expect to promote with peers.

Exactly what ISN'T an RC track!?

@SSgt Garrett Christ thank you for the clarification
@SPC Kyle Kinas technically nothing, but some unit there had the time to actually construct one

That has already been done here at our installation. Unfortunate I am at a GSU and the impact is very small because of the lack of personnel. It is a good program to bring up through the channels to see where it goes.

The issue is that it takes time, money, training, a range and other things. What is the return on investment? How likely will it be that the skill, or even a familiarization is needed? What percentage of AF personnel deploy to a hostile environment? When they go to that environment are they really "in the environment"? I wouldn't consider the runway at Bagram AFB, which has a perimeter inside a perimeter inside a perimeter. Security Forces, FA's, PJ's and others need the training but many others don't.

Well, IMO anyone going into theater needs to be qualified. But your point as to the overall numbers going downrange stands. There is little value doing frequent quals for people who are in non-deployable slots and who's job does not revolve around shooting a weapon.

Overall training on a non-deployable basis...I will agree with you wholeheartedly
Being sent to OEF with little or no training on their primary weapon...nope nope nope

MSgt John Taylor - First of all, let me say that I retired just prior to OIF.
I went over to be a Bradley Infantry Instructor; specializing in Crew and Dismount Infantry skill sets including MOUT and Demo. After the invasion I followed them in order to provide immediate Logistics support. I was authorized by my local COL to carry two sidearms for self defense, which was a rare thing in those days.

I was in Iraq continuously from 2003 to 2006, and then moved to Afghanistan until the end of 2009. I worked with all branches of the US Military and I can tell you from each and every one of the Warriors that deployed with me or operated around me that absolutely NONE of them would have agreed with the idea that they did not need weapons training.

In those first 18 months, it was my mission to get as many of my people and the local nationals that worked for us back and forth safely. I rarely slept and often caught rides on anything moving in order to make sure my people were protected and safe.

I lost 27 people to roadside attacks, all local nationals and mostly to warlords ambushing un-escorted convoys and killing the drivers to steal the transported goods. I took it upon myself to meet with each of the families of those that perished to do what I could above and beyond just paying them their meager salary, and death gratuity.

You're right, a SAT Terminal REMF in LA does not need weapons training unless they live in the wrong side of town... but with the USAF Expeditionary Force deployment concept your USAF airmen and women are not deployed in solid groups but are instead broken into 3-5 personnel groups and sent out into the warzone.

So when these airmen and women arrive they actually do not know where they are going and quite frequently it is the SAT Terminal operators that are sent to 10-25 man FOB's...and when they arrive, they are their own defense force.

Anyone who spent more than a few months in Afghanistan would know this for a fact, and the problem lies in the fact that many USAF decisions were made by leaders who were NOT knowledgeable with what was going on and usually was on a 3-4 month tour.

"No Training" is the equivalent of a death sentence and considering I was the CREW (Counter IED) Transport Mgr for Afghan...I can tell you that several times I jumped out of Helo's and MRAP's with Counter IED jammers for USAF personnel stuck out in the middle of the open Afghan countryside. In one case, in central Afghanistan it was a USAF Weather station and the only people there were 4 operators in two shifts and their 5 support personnel.... and not one Security Forces personnel was assigned because their leadership mistakenly thought that a Weather Station was not a legitimate target.

For anyone to think that the cost of even 100 5.56mm rounds are more important than the life of someone from their own branch just disturbs me to no end. When the cost of ammo enters the picture... I have one question that I ask in response

"Are you trying to tell me that the .25 cents per round is more important than the life of even one Military member?"

I can tell you that my soldiers lives were more important than anything to me, and each and every one of them went back home in the same shape they left it following me.

My warriors are the most important thing to me and even my own family at home understood that I would put my troops lives on an equal fitting with my own.

No branch of service is more important than the life of even one of its members...
....period...

SFC Mark Bailey - ANY airman deploying downrange is required to be current on his/her primary weapon. All airmen PCS'ing over seas are required to qualify on his/her primary weapon before leaving stateside. All airmen are required to qualify on the M-16 before they can graduate basic, that's the AF's policy. Whatever you've seen that's counter to that policy is the exception, not the rule.

The question posed was whether that policy should be expanded. Expanding the policy, takes money away from much needed training that the AF requires to project its power. In the AF it's not about one man, one rifle. It's about dominating Air and space, projecting power from long distances. No matter what the price of a small arms round is, we still have to pay for all of the jet fuel, parts, bombs and missiles needed to carry out our primary mission.

I actually have seen exactly what the OP stated (mis-handled weapons due to a lack of familiarity with them). "Qualifying with the primary weapon" is a wonderful set of words arranged in a logical manner however it is meaningless if the weapon cannot actually be used correctly (the OP stated that magazines were inserted upside down...etc.)

Once again, it is not the responsibility of the NCO to worry about how much money the Military spends upon bombs fuel and missiles...but rather to look out for the welfare of the Junior Enlisted that fall under them.

In the Army, prior to OIF/ OEF, the standard was 80 M-16 rounds per soldier MAX for qualification purposes once per year. This accounted for not only the qualification range but any prior or subsequent ranges.

What you may not realize is that the USAF is not special and that all of the other services are also comprised of highly specialized people operating equipment that is even more expensive than the USAF Drone. Every service realizes the importance of such things and each spends a requisite amount of time in familiarization and qualification. Every service has a budget that is not only set but usually contains a reserve of funds for Commander to utilize based upon the METL (Mission Essential Task List) or the OPTEMPO or simply at a Commanders Call for local concerns.

This is the first time I have heard anyone put the rising costs of Drone Fuel and HellFire ammunition up against the mere .25 cents per round of ammunition. To put this into an accounting format, the $20.00 of ammunition, and the cross-training or monthly/ quarterly re-training for the Airmen so affected.

...and the way to determine if the Airmen needs this is quite easy...

Take a dummy M-16 and a magazine and give the Airmen 6 seconds to properly insert the magazine...then ask the same Airmen to perform a functions check.

They pass.... let them have cake
They fail.... send them to the range

Airmen do not need to "qualify" on the weapon system to graduate basic... plenty fail the weapon system training.