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| USAF Infantry Training Turns Painful |
| 2006-06-14 |
| June 14, 2006: The U.S. Air Force has rediscovered ground combat. While the 24,000 air force security personnel were always ready to roll with their infantry weapons and tactics, the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has made it essential for a lot more air force people to learn how to fight on the ground. To deal with that, the air force has established an 18 day long Ground Combat Skills course (GCS). The air force has several locations set up to give the course, and most airmen headed for Iraq, Afghanistan or South Korea go through it. The training includes handling weapons, as well as a large variety of ground vehicles (including forklifts), in a combat situation. The last two days of the course are spent in the field, running through realistic situations, often using live ammunition. The most intense combat exercises use simunitions. These are low velocity, non metal bullets fired by (modified) standard weapons. The simunitions will sting (and leave a paint spot on your uniform) if they hit, and this adds another layer of realism to the exercise. Nearly all the instructors have already served in a combat zone, and the training is constantly updated with new information from the combat zone. The last 48 hours involves sleep deprivation, night operations, convoys and the kind of stress to be found in ground combat. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #12 The threat of then-Cold War escalatory, mutually destructive nuclear combat is now complemented vv proliferations by NUCLEARIZED TERROR. MULTI-UNIT-, MULTI-FRONT DESTROYING MUSHROOM CLOUDS, WARPACT OR RADICAL ISLAMIST ETC., means that US-ALLIED BATTLESPACE FORCES, TACTICAL ANDOR STRATEGIC, FRONTAL ANDOR DEEP-STRIKE", ETC. must possess vestiges of autonomous, tech-saavy/centric, multi-capable, highly mobile Battle Group-Task Forces, but under tight strategic information and management controls [C3IC? including Information + Space]. MORE REAL-WORLD REASONS WHY GMD AND INTEGRATED GPS-SPAWAR IS A US MUST=HAVE/MUST-DO, NO MATTER THE COSTS. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-06-14 21:34 |
| #11 RD it has to be 18 days, because nobody has 18 weeks to train up for a deployment. With all due respect to my Army/Marine comrades, Air force people aren't complete cream puffs. No they probably wont be able to take a hill after training but they could definately hold their own against jihadis (cowards that they are). |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-06-14 17:56 |
| #10 It's about effing time! I was shot at playing "security police augmentee" in Panama, and again when I was in Vietnam (I got "volunteered" for something). Luckily for me, I'm an old Louisiana swamp rat, and know how to shoot back. A couple of the city-boys with me in Vietnam were totally confused. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-06-14 16:50 |
| #9 Coast Guard assault infantry? |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-14 16:26 |
| #8 Navy enlisted Army intelligence specialists. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-14 16:24 |
| #7 the air force has established an 18 day long Ground Combat Skills course should be 18 weeks.. 18 days isn't enough to get someone in shape let alone trained in basic offensive and defensive infantry tactics. Good basic weapons training alone would take at least 18 days. add Multirole training X more days. feedback anyone? |
| Posted by: RD 2006-06-14 16:16 |
| #6 When was that? '72 or so? |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-14 16:06 |
| #5 Some years ago, the AF sent some of its base security personnel through some semi-serious ground training. Unfortunately, they liked it way too much, so the AF ended that program. The problem was that air base security is almost always dull. You don't want guards that anticipate trouble, you want them to anticipate boredom and routine. But once some of these lads got a taste of ground pounding, they transferred to the Army. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-06-14 15:35 |
| #4 Comb out! Comb out! /RAF Regiment |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-14 15:31 |
| #3 This is infantry training for all AF personnel, not just for base defense (Security Force handles that), but for convoy defense, etc. Since there isn't a lot of air action, AF troops are getting tasked to guard checkpoints, run convoys and other actions that put you in the line of fire. They added more training for this in Basic: Warrior Week is a weeklong exercise that gives basic trainees a taste of Air Force deployments during the fifth week of Basic Military Training. Warrior Week was added to BMT to instill a warrior mentality, give recruits the necessary skills to operate in a field environment and provide them with a better concept of Air Force operations. This training is a mock Air Force deployment where recruits are taught the Law of Armed Conflict, anti-terrorism techniques, self-aid and buddy care, nuclear, biological and chemical prepared-ness, weapons training and teamwork. The first phase of the exercise begins with trainees going through a mobility line. Trainees process through individual stations to take care of any medical, pay or family needs. This is important since a deployment could last three to six months. Trainees then "deploy" to a mock air base, set up tents and start their field training. Trainees are taught the basics of using an M-16 rifle and receive marksmanship training at the firing range. Another story on AF convoy protection here: Recently returned from Iraq, Chapman is teaching his fellow airmen critical skills they'll need to conduct convoy security missions there. It's a nontraditional mission the Air Force hasn't carried out since Vietnam but took on again early in 2004 to help ease the burden on the Army and Marine Corps, explained Air Force Master Sgt. Phil Coolberth, who helped establish the Air Force's new Basic Combat Convoy Course here, outside San Antonio. Today, the Air Force is a full partner with the Army and Marine Corps as it runs convoys throughout Iraq in support of military operations there, with more than 1,000 transporters, special police and medical and personnel specialists trained to help provide security, explained Air Force 1st Lt. Leo Martin, course commander. To ensure airmen are prepared, the Basic Combat Convoy Course, or BC3 for short, packs into just four weeks the combat skills airmen will need to stay alive as they carry out the mission: weapons, tactics, maneuver and small-unit leadership skills, among them. |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-06-14 13:41 |
| #2 I thought that the flyers got this in survival training. Sounds like ground crews might need it. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-14 12:50 |
| #1 I always presumed that if the bad guys got to the front gate of an Air Force Base then we were in deep doo doo. But given the terrorists tactics it makes sense for the REMF to bone up on fighting. Personally I never felts safe around some of our officers when they were armed but that is another story altogether. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-06-14 12:35 |