Recruits need real rifles at boot camp, top enlisted airman says
By Stephen Losey
Sep 20, 2024, 08:00 AM
The U.S. Air Force eventually wants its aspiring recruits to carry real rifles during basic military training, the service’s top enlisted airman said Tuesday.
Enlisted trainees for the Air Force and Space Force are now issued nonfunctional replicas of M4 rifles during boot camp at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. The program, which began in July, aims to better prepare aspiring airmen and guardians for real-world situations in which they carry weapons, reviving a practice phased out in 2012.
Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Dave Flosi said during a roundtable with reporters at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space and Cyber conference that recruits carrying live weapons is his “desired end state.”
Flosi praised Air Education and Training Command’s decision to start giving recruits inert rifles. He said the command “is working on taking the next steps down the road” towards giving them actual rifles, though he could not say when that might happen.
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024/09/20/rifles-at-air-force-boot-camp-top-leader-calls-it-desired-end-state/
