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

I am a believer in you either do sometime or you don’t not maybe something. As a jet engine mechanic, we were never trained in combat arms properly and we would be the last people you need to hand a weapon to.

Having spent my Air Force years other than basic training and OTS I wasn’t given rifle training as a radar tech, civil engineering officer (5525) and a Communication Electronics Enginer (3055).. Except when I worked in a Mobil Radar outfit (729 TCS). I even remember being assigned to a radar outfit in Alaska (710 ACWS) we had a fife rack with 4 M16s, which were removed because they were needed in Vietnam. We got no replacements, except the bow and arrow I stuck in the rack as a joke.
I didn’t join the Air Force to fight I joined to learn electronics.

i find it funny that a recent Air Force recruitment commercial showed Air force "infantry" out doing some patrol or raid. yet according to you and a few others moct airmen are clueless with basic marksmenship.

Why don't all ground forces know how to fly airplanes and launch missiles and man ships? We all specialize and get along doing it. And yes..... we all got firearms training, but not to be sharpshooters.

It was my understanding that you received weapons training in basic training now it seems that the air force is different that they receive NO TRAING in basic weapons use don't they have to qualify with any weapons or do they rely on the army/marines to bail them out?

Why are so many members of the Army clueless when it comes to the proper use of air and space power? This was the reason the Air Force was established as a separate service in 1947 and the Space Force was established as a separate force in 2019 The army's fantasies about the infantryman and his rifle have caused American to lose counterinsurgency wars in Vietnam as well as Afghanistan and Iraq according to Army Lt. General Daniel P. Bolger's 2014 book entitled Why We Lost: A General's inside account of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

I don’t remember the amount of time they spent training me but I see fire expert on the 38 caliber pistol 45 caliber pistol in the A.R. 15 rifle. Years later it occurred to me than all the times that I had fired those guns I’ve never boys been shown how to assemble disassemble or clean any of them. As an air crewmember I took them into combat and when I return to the ground I turned them back in and somebody else did all the maintenance. When I was On a special assignment attached to the Marines it never occurred to me that I wasn’t skilled in maintaining the gun like they all were. I knew at least felt they had their doubts about my ability if we were we got into trouble but no one ever said anything to me. On the other hand I spent more than a year in training as an aircraft mechanic before I ever reached my first airbase and my first real airplane. I think each service takes a careful look at the probability of the skills each person will need in their career and choose carefully how much time to train them on each part of those skills. Navy submariner is very unlikely define himself in a firefight an Air Force aircraft mechanic might find himself in such a situation but it’s not too likely a marine truck driver is very likely in the Amount of time training those three people for that situation in my opinion should be significantly different.

Sgt Christ, thank you for your service and dedication.
So you already know that not all members have to be qualified that's because not all AF members are in combat ready units. Some units are deployable and some are not.
If you think that the AF needs to change something why don't you contact your Command Chief and pass the suggestion on up the ladder.

Granted the USAF was never intended to be a ground fighting unit, but as everyone knows, stuff happens. For the same reason I carry a weapon concelled in civilian life, it is prudent to be prepared in the military also. As far as the enemy is concerned you are a "solider" even though your country does not classify you as such. A phone call away is too far, too late.

How to Tell the Difference Between the Branches of the US Armed Forces!

How to Tell the Difference Between the Branches of the US Armed Forces!

If you give the command "SECURE THE BUILDING", here is what the different services would do:

The NAVY would turn out the lights and lock the doors.

The ARMY would surround the building with defensive fortifications, tanks, and concertina wire.

The MARINE CORPS would assault the building, using overlapping fields of fire from all appropriate points on the perimeter.

The AIR FORCE would take out a three-year lease with an option to buy the building.