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

I was in the Air Force (1975-80). You are correct, most of us never were expected to carry guns. I wonder that the Navy members are not largely the same? We had weapons training for one or two days during basic; and when in Germany we were able to volunteer for training with a German weapon for one day. I wonder if the ignorance of the Air Force members with the weapons is as bad as you make out? I would not be proficient (as far as hitting targets) but I would know which way to point the weapon; how to hold it, load it and clear it; as I think most of other members. I would be surprised if they completely did away with weapons training in basic training for the Air Force?

I'll admit I was only at the range once every two years, but I was trained, and since we were a mobile unit and deployable, we had to at least qualify. I was reasonably proficient with both the M-16 and M-9.

The original plan was made when there front lines and a large distance between the fighting and the planes so no real issue. So I guess it is military is slow to change. If most airmen need a rifle the fit has hit the shan.

Sadly the writer makes a valid point. I retired from the military in 09, after 20 years of a active duty in the Army. At present I'm a PVT contractor for the DOD. I work on bases overseas, Al-Udied AFB in Qatar is one of those bases I've worked at. It is guarded by Airman, most who have not touched a rifle since Basic. Let alone Qualified with one recently. But yet here, they are doing Gate duty. with 9 MM on their Hip, and M-4 slung across there shoulder. I go in and out gate all day multiple times as my security Escort job requires it. I've SEEN IT ALL! Magazines falling out of weapons, (not properly seated) Weapons falling apart, people Just flat out walking away from their post leaving their weapon leaned against the shack or IN the shack cause there shift (2 hours) was over, ad they were in a big hurry to get out of the heat. It's Just disgraceful. And when I go inside the visitors shack to bring people on the base IF I see a problem I mention it to the SGT on duty, I usually get the same answer. "He's/She's NOT MY soldier. Even though she/he is the SGT of the guard for those 2 post. Apparently the Air force doesn't believe in General Military authority for NCO's to make on the spot corrections. It;s just Flipping SAD!!....and of course being a contractor, I am powerless to do anything about it.
Makes me ashamed of being a former NCO.... one that doesn't want to correct issues! Especially those types.

!!!ROTFLMBO!!! Being former Army, I've wondered that as well, especially in today's rapidly-changing roles & missions of the US Military that involve joint-branch missions and co-operations.

It all comes to to how all the components are used in force projection Marines-lightweight multi mobile force that can change tactics as needed on the fly ( more decentralized command and more flexibility by platoon command level, i.e. do what it takes to get the job done. Navy - moderate scale national force projection with capability to independently mobilize to area of need relatively rapidly. Army- large scale force projection with much highly levels of Command and control structure heavy logistics and supply controls create a slower more highly planned deployment- the army provides overwhelming force capability. Air Force- Standoff support and force projection with immediate deployment capability. This means that the protections responsibility ( M4 carry permits) rely with other services when needed.
However I do agree that during basic, each Airmen should spend more that the one day at the range and should have to qualify to some standard. Back in my day we only spent half a day on the range shooting some beat up modified 16's ( I got marksmen award, easy since I was a hunter in my day)

I joined the USAF about 9 months before 9/11, and I remember being told during training that I was supposed to be a technical expert in my career field (as a draftsman, surveyor, and construction inspector). During my career (over 15 years, sadly not more), I saw a dramatic shift from the top down. As Army and Marine units were put into combat roles (sometimes they weren't properly trained for, ie convoy operations), it became apparent that the long term support roles needed to be filled. Thus, base buildup and maintenance were transferred to an ill equipped AF (since very few Airmen had been trained for any type of combat operations, particularly outside the wire). I only deployed 3 times, but all were in support of another service. I never had all the equipment necessary. I never had the support expected (after all, I was AF, why weren't they supporting me rather than the Army/Marines). I am a huge supporter of every military member being proficient with their assigned weapon ( preferably all weapon systems they will be deployed with). But the question comes down to this...do we need everyone to be a rifleman, or do we need some to be specialists? After all, the AF was created in part because not every rifleman could fix an airplane. Just food for thought.

When I was in the Air Force, we went to M-16 training every three years.Some of the guys got their marksmanship ribbons and the rest of us qualified on the weapon. When we deployed we had M-16's in our armory in case the base was over run with hostiles. Most of the time we did our job which was loading cargo planes. We didn't worry about engaging the enemy. We had soldiers, marines, and SF for protection. It would have taken a serious attack for us to get to use our weapons.

We handled them a lot more in the 80s, especially engineers, aerial port, combat communications and similar units. However, few of the admin, supply (except port and other forward deployers) and flightline personnel should be where they need more than familiarization in case of emergency. As others have noted, if the fight comes that far in, there are worse problems, and we're not keeping the aircraft in the air, which is the mission.

When the Air Force gets rid of its star rating for staying in a barracks then we should consider letting them near real weapons.