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

Ya know, I wondered that myself! We only had to qualify in basic in 1995, and never again.

I remember back in my early days in the AF I had to shoot again when I got to my base. I had got expert but they said I was lucky. Even though the guy next to me got pulled out of the line in the last half of the firing. And I was last guy on the line. I got in good with some M.P.s via some Army Cook candidates at Fort Lee, The Quartermaster School. I got invited to go to the range to fire as they had some open slots. I fired expert again.. a Lt Col was there who verified it,
Nope doesn't count, it wasn't a AF group. I kept the target though for keepsake purpose.. that was back in '71. I had join AF Reserve in '70 and that was when I first got expert.. I was scheduled to go to range at Wright-Pat I think or am Army camp not far from there. Had some nasty weather that weekend.. firing cancelled, so I missed out. The next spring I got opportunity to go Active AF. I took it, got to my base and I talked to some Security Specialists..they said let us talk to our Supervisor, maybe he can find a slot on the firing line.. one of them hinted at a bribe(not money but coffee and pastries..). I said I'm just an A1C like you guys, I have no control over that .. I did talk to Sarge at D.H. And he got me a half can coffee and some pastries for the training staff.. I got my slot.. I fired and got expert again.. great firing weather, clear day .. when we were done I got asked to step out and away for a few minutes.. I could see the timbers shake on that building.. the Instructor gave me my paper to take back. It was in a envelope.. I didn't find out until I got back to Squadron.. a few days later, i thought it was bad news.. Tng Sgt. Came by D.H. and gave me the word and gave me a pkg. it had the AF Ribbon for shooting. He said save it for Cmdr.'s call, we'll award it there.. They
Handed me one, not knowing I already had one. The 1Sgt. Asked me how I got
A slot to fire.. I told him.. he just nodded and walked away.. it seemed they had been trying to get slots for 3 months and here comes a Cook and he gets to fire 2 weeks after he gets on base.. S'thing not right.. the matter got dropped, Cmdr. said no use in brooding over it.. it's done !..

As a retired Air Force member, I prefer the M-249. Yes, I know how to use it. If one isn't available, I'll take an M-60..

Hey! Sorry not all of us in the navy know any of that either.

Mike Christ married my daughter. But to respond to the comment about weaponry, I was deemed an expert in the field and won the Florida marksmanship challenge in 1969.

back in my day we have to shoot and qualify with the m-16.. then strip and clean and put it baack together... also we have to perfrom guard duty for the air hospital when deployed

I joined the USAF so that I could learn a skill and I wouldn't have to carry a weapon. I qualified with M-16, .38 and .45, but never had to carry one outside of the range.

Regrettably, what you say is true; except for the Flight Line Security troops and some Spec Ops guys, the Air Force has been hoplophobic at least since the '60s. As an air cargo courier, I qualified with the S&W "Victory Model" .38, and later, with the M2 carbine; but I was the exception. Many years later, I got my small arms expert ribbon, but only because I was working as a medic with a JTF Bravo team and because I asked. The nature of the current threat mandates that EVERY troop needs to be small-arms qualified. In defense of my branch of service: except for the men and women on the flight line, we ARE a bunch of skilled technicians with little that is primarily of a military nature. I was originally an Army draftee, and there is a world of difference between the two services.

I'd like to say I am expert on rifles and pistols. I relied on outside training to become qualified. The Air Force was often hit and miss on training when I served from 1969 to 1991. I learned because of history of overrun bases during Korea and Viet Nam. Weapons are locked up in the arms room on base and most likely unavailable to airmen as often the case in Viet Nam. You usually found one one the ground and then you'd look for ammo as best you could. Usually though you were just a free target when maintaining assigned aircraft.

Hate to say it, the Air Force only trains most of its personnel to be techs. It's up to individuals to seek training in infantry style weapons. Most Air bases most likely expect a nuclear attack which means infantry weapons will be of little use. In foreign countries the Air Force relies on the host country for guidance on defense. Turkey is a example to watch at this time since the Air Force has facilities there.