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

As an old training manager, the real issues are resources, time and money. These are highly limited in any company, so you have to base your decisions on analysis of data. You have to take into account two documents, risk analysis and training analysis before spending any money. If the risk of an Air Force base getting attacked was high and the duties of that airmen included defending the base than you could justify the expense of training Air Force Personnel to a high degree of competency. However, the opposite is true, so as a training manager, I would recommend the money be spent in areas that were critical to the completion of the airman's duties. Yes, there are exceptions for airmen; Pjs and security forces need a high level of competency because their duties require it. Otherwise, I see no justification for using millions of training dollars on a task that has a low level of risk. So, again, we stay combat ready by using resources, time and money wisely and focusing on the duties of the Airman.

SSgt Christ, since you were in the Air Force, you obviously are aware of the Air Force mission and how it differs from the sister branches. Or do you actually not know the difference? Every Airman has to qualify with the M4 at least once a year and more often leading up to a deployment. The Air Force is not a ground fighting force primarily. And that's ok! It doesn't need to emphasize weapons tactics or marksmanship like the Army or Marines. Having said that, I do agree Airman would benefit from more exposure to firearms, but I see it as a supplement, not a necessity as a well-functioning Airman. Also, don't place the blame on the Airmen for not knowing how to operate a rifle. Again, they get exposure at BMT and then only once a year after that, if they aren't in SF or a SpecOps job. Be patient with those fellow Airmen and maybe offer to train them after hours or have lunch with them and share your knowledge.

I joined the army to be an aircraft mechanic and an aviator, because I wanted to be above all that stuff; that is to say on that one day in Vietnam when we got shot down and my infantry training from basic and AIT came flooding back to me! And I was glad it did, on that special day I fired my .38, my M-14, my M-60 and picked up a Purple Heart! I agree with you, any one who joins the military should be weapons qualified!

The Marines gave it right, everyone a Rifleman first!

When I was in I think it depended on what you worked on. The unit I was with we had to be M16 and pistol proficient as a crew chief. Sad thing about it is that you only saw the weapons once a year. The Security police ran the firing range and the instructors were ex army. So we received a little more knowledge than other airmen.

When did they change it? I was in the USAF back in 1962 til 1966 and we had to qualify. I was later placed in the A combat defense unit during the Cuban Crisis and we switch over from The M1 Carbine to the AR15. I was later transferred to Base Police but my unit were shipped to Nam.

When I was in...in 1966...if I remember correctly we had to qualify every two years...I qualified at Lackland and at Pope AFB. I'm not aware that this has changed in our current Air Force.

Not sure why my original response isn't here so we will try again. As an aircrew member, officer and SAC senior Command Post Controller, I was required to be qualified on both a 0.38 cal revolver and 9mm semi-auto pistol and did so on an annual basis. I also fired expert in both of them. Army ROTC awarded me an expert marksman on a 200M range with iron sites on an M-14. Enlisted troops in the Air Force who have non-wartime skills (gym personnel, clerks, accounting & finance, computer data enty etc) are qualified annually on a rifle. I retired from the Air Force 25 years ago, and this may have changed, but these troops were augmented into Air Force security forces using M-16 and M-4 rifles. As far as I know, anyone receiving flight pay was qualified on some sort of weapon, FACs, Prime beef (Combat Civil engineers), Law Enforcement, Security Forces, PJs, Command Post Controllers, and anyone who worked or delt with nuclear weapons. BTW, it was an Air Force member that was in the last Olympic Games in the biatholon, which required cross country skiing and bolt action small arms rifle skills (0.22 cal).

The Air Force may have radically changed in the past 25 years, but when I was in SAC, we, as aircrew members and officers had to be qualified in .38 and 9mm sidearms. Security forces were qualified in M-16 operations and those who had AFSCs (MOS) that did not translate to a warfighting code (think clerks, food prep, accounting & finance, gym staff, band members etc) were augmented into the security force and had to qualify on the M-16.

I had to qualify on the M1A1 carbine when I was in basic training (1963) and every year thereafter. Don't they do that anymore?