Posted on May 28, 2015
Why don't all members of the Air Force have to be fully qualified to be a rifleman in case of hostile events?
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I have noticed through the years of being in the Air Force (Security Forces member here) that most people in the Air Force are clueless when it comes to M-4/M-16/M-9. This is outrageous! What are they supposed to do if the enemy comes knocking on our door step and everyone needs to fight. I have taught classes on the M-4 with communication airmen and have seen them completely mess up clearing out the weapon, loading it (magazine upside down or rounds the wrong way), and just completely incapable of achieving a zero on target after four rounds of firing. I am a big fan of how the Army and Marines teach that your are always a rifleman first. It almost seems like some of the Airmen don't expect to carry a weapon (ummmm why did you join the military in the first place)? I wish the Air Force would pick up on this to make us a more combat ready force. But, enough of me what are your thoughts?
Rifleman
3P: Security Forces
Air Force
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 907
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As a member of the Sabotage Alert Team, we were taught achieving high marks with the M-16 while stationed in Misawa Japan. This was a while ago so I don't know what goes on today.
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Your experiences square very much with my own. I was active Army in the mid-1980s for 4 years and then later in 1997, I joined the California Air National Guard. We had familiarization fire once a year with the M-16 and record fire once every three. I am sure there are some things the Army doesn't do well but I was taught the skills of how to handle a weapon safel and fire it accurately. When were on the range, it was easy to tell who had been prior service Army and Marine Corps and who the Air Force guys were. Some of the Air Force guys were, it seemed, clueless as to which end of the weapon the live round would come out of.
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The Air Force does have a few Special Ops units. I was assigned to one when i was in. But the average airman is not expected to be in combat.
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The AF does teach their recruits how to load and fire an M16. At least they did when I went through. And as far as hitting a target? I a mear female hit my target 98 out of 100. I wasn't brought up around gun so I had no prior experience.
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Ditto the Navy. Don’t expect any Navy personnel to be qualified on, or with any sidearm. That why the Navy has Marine’s. In the Navy your introduced to a weapon, but you don’t qualify on one. I was introduced to the M1 Grand in boot camp, fired 60 rounds on the Marine Corps A Range, shot among the top 10 out of about 350 that day, and never touched a weapon again until I separated from active duty. I’m an RSO, reloaded my own Ammo, and a recreation shooter. I’ve seen Navy personnel issued a sidearm for certain security purposes w/o knowing if they are qualified. Don’t let any Navy personnel touch a weapon until they are qualified on that weapon, because they did NOT have any training in boot camp for sure, and likely their MOS didn’t require any weapons training either.
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I was an Air Force Air Traffic Controller in Vietnam. The only time I saw my weapon at Cam Rhan Bay was the once a week we were required to go to the Orderly Room to clean it. On my day off I flew as an "additional crew member." As such I flew thousands of miles without a weapon. My commander gave permission for the extra curricular flights, but would not let me check out my weapon. In the Army I served 16 years, including Desert Storm. Chaplains do not carry weapons and risk Court Martial if we're do.
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CH (MAJ) Wesley Sullivan
Additionally.. in the AF I qualified as a Small Arms Expert coming out of Basic Training. I later qualified left and right handed before going to Vietnam.
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Back in the day, they used to. At least that is the story that was passed along from my pops who retired from the AF back in '84. As he told it, he saw his weapons twice a year unless there was a field problem and only had to qualify on them once a year.
I mean I get the mentality from higher ups but really, it is kind of stupid. EVERY person that serves in the military should at the very least be proficient with an M4/M16, M-203, M-60 and AT-4. These are basics. Relying on the fact that you are in the rear with the gear does not cut it if there is suddenly a force that pops up ala Vietnam on the Airbase and starts going through it. Best to be armed and prepared to deal with it rather than wait for Security, or the Army/Marines.
I mean I get the mentality from higher ups but really, it is kind of stupid. EVERY person that serves in the military should at the very least be proficient with an M4/M16, M-203, M-60 and AT-4. These are basics. Relying on the fact that you are in the rear with the gear does not cut it if there is suddenly a force that pops up ala Vietnam on the Airbase and starts going through it. Best to be armed and prepared to deal with it rather than wait for Security, or the Army/Marines.
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I was in the USAF from 1975 to 1981. Active reserve 81-82. Never fired a weapon. We were not riflemen. We were airmen.
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Nov 23, 1963. Kennedy was killed in Dallas. Speculation ran rapid on who did it and why. I was assigned to a Hawk missile battery near Frankfurt, Germany at the time. 7th Army called an alert and our unit (maybe 80 men) were sent up to the Fulda Gap to set up on a hilltop in the middle of the night. Now, most of us considered ourselves as more technicians than soldiers and our BC had even had an Airborne MSGT assigned to get us in line. During formation the next morning, the 1st Sgt advised us that if the Soviets and East Germans decided to attack, we would expend our missiles and then, might hold out for seven days as infantry. A real wake-up call.
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