Airmen and Guardians will once again carry practice weapons during their nearly eight weeks of basic military training, a change that Department of the Air Force officials say is needed amid rising global tensions.
Air Education and Training Command officials announced the change this week, stating in a press release that "it's crucial for national security to inculcate a warfighter mindset immediately upon arrival" to boot camp. The practice M4 rifles will be carried around by airmen trainees and Guardians as they progress through their transformation from civilians into service members.
"Incorporating practice weapons into realistic scenarios in a controlled environment builds confidence, corrects errors, and manages stress by providing regular practice that reduces hesitation and increases combat effectiveness," Col. Billy Wilson Jr., the 737th Training Group commander, said in a news release.
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While Army recruits and Marine Corps poolees have long carried rifles during boot camp, the Air Force stopped having airmen carry their practice rifles in 2012 when it paused the Trainer Weapon Program, the service said. It’s now reinstated it for airmen and also introduced the program to Guardians. It comes as the Department of the Air Force prepares for what the military terms "great power competition" -- jargon used to describe increased attention, spending and training on adversaries, namely China and Russia.
Retired Chief Master Sgt. Eric Benken, who served as the Air Force's top enlisted leader from 1996 to 1999, told Military.com on Wednesday that he believes the change is a positive one, and that airmen need to be prepared at any given time for conflict.
"They should always have that warrior mentality or that perspective," Benken said, adding that it's critical to have that awareness of handling and being responsible for a weapon if they go on a deployment to a combat zone.
"If they went over there not knowing how to use a weapon, or not having that warrior mindset, that puts them at a distinct disadvantage," he said.
Airmen and Guardians will receive the nonfunctioning M4 rifle when they arrive at basic military training and will carry and care for it throughout, "except when at medical and processing appointments, when wearing any combination of the service uniform, or when on a profile that prevents them from carrying it," the service said. The rifles will be stored in the recruits' wall lockers in the barracks.
This marks another major change to Air Force and Space Force basic military training in recent years.
In September, officials announced that they had reworked the first five days of basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, to teach airmen and Guardians the basics of physical fitness, training and wellness during those first days to decrease dropouts due to injuries and poor physical fitness training tests.
In late 2022, the Air Force got rid of its famous BEAST week mock deployment exercise -- which stood for Basic Expeditionary Airman Skills Training -- and replaced it with the 36-hour PACER FORGE, which stands for the Primary Agile Combat Employment Range, Forward Operations Readiness Generation Exercise.
PACER FORGE was designed to build on the Air Force's philosophy of creating "multi-capable airmen" -- or having airmen take on more responsibilities so they can carry out missions with fewer people.
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