All Dover AFB Security Forces To Be Armed

[Texas Star]

I only know of one instance in which a USAF base guard in the US opened fire on anyone, and that was at Luke AFB near Phoenix, back around 2005. Someone ran the gate while being chased by the local police, and the guard fired on him with his M9 - fatally. There may well have been others. I do know of one similar instance in which no shots were fired. Seems strange that a fleeing criminal would go into a military base, but it happens.

You missed the Fairchild AFB, WA incident in which a deranged (?) man opened fire on base with an AK-47. A bicycle cop took him down with 1-2 shots from his Beretta 9mm...from a range of about 80 yards! Massad Ayoob has covered that event several times in the gun magazines and interviewed the AF cop involved. It showed what a good shot with a pistol can achieve.

Outside the USA, the most famous attack on a USAF base was the 1968 Tet offensive at Ton Son Nhut air base by Saigon. The Air Police valiantly defended until Army forces eventually arrived. There's a well known photo on the Net, showing one airman down (dead?) and others firing at advancing Viet Cong or NVA forces.

It is true that the USAF has been generally anti-gun oriented. Very PC. Our aircrews often view their pistols with amusement, having no idea what they can do in skilled hands. At a radar base in Newfoundland, we had maybe ten of us AP's and had to depend on augmentees or the RCMP for help if the Soviets had landed troops by submarine to take out our radar. Most of those augmentees hadn't fired the .30 carbine in a long time and were wholly uninterested in their role for base defense. I was disgusted. Well, we did have a fox that sometimes hung around to be fed by the AP on duty or the radar crew. Maybe it'd have bitten a Russian soldier...

Normally, the only man armed was the AP in the building controlling access to the radar ops room. I wore my own Colt Gold Cup .45 or an issued .45 that I swapped some parts on to have all Colt parts, with checkered non-slip surfaces and a checkered mainspring housing. Had the old wide spur hammer, too. But I was one of maybe three men among us to have a strong interest in firearms.

That was many years ago. I think base defense has been improved a lot in many cases. And they split my career field into separate LE and security specialties. When I was in, we might pull either duty on a given day. BTW, I graduated AP school as the second man in my large class and was recognized with a special diploma that I think I still have. My kids will probably throw it out when I die. They don't understand its value. Having that diploma and citation for academic achievement and about five bucks will get you a cup of coffee almost anywhere in North America!

 

[DWalt]

For a long time, all qualifications for the USAF rank and file is done on 25 meter confined ranges. With very few exceptions I am aware of (and I have seen a huge number of USAF small arms ranges), ranges at bases are 25 meters, and are mostly indoor. Security Forces training for about anything heavier than the M16/M4 is normally done at the nearest Army facility. The USAF's largest unconfined outdoor range is at Lackland AFB, and while it theoretically could be used for heavier weapons at greater distances, encroachment from the surrounding city prevents that. There is an on-base military family housing area near the range complex that makes even the M16 iffy regarding extreme range, and special shorter-range 5.56mm training ammunition is used there for that reason (it is not M193 or M855).

 

[Retired Chief]

I retired from the Air Force in 2004, the day before my 60th birthday. All Security Forces working the gate and on patrol were armed. During most of my career, Base Commanders had the authority to allow off-duty possession/carry of either military weapons or approved privately owned weapons. When off-duty carry was allowed, it was always restricted to Security Forces. Some commanders allowed it, at least one strongly encouraged off-duty carry, but only on some overseas areas was it required, and in the States carrying off base while off duty was usually a no-no. At some bases if you lived in Base Housing and wanted to keep a shotgun, you kept it at your house. At others, Security Forces kept it locked in a vault for you. Again, Base Commander's option.

 

[Texas Star]

Obviously my experience is dated...but USAF security was (is?) a lot like "gun-free" zone signs. I presume that they still have "deadly force authorized" signs all over the place, but in my day we were fundamentally going to be speed bumps. Thinking out of the box is definitely not policy, and asymmetric warfare is for other folks. The warrior culture existed (past tense?) but was pretty well limited to folks with wings on their chests flying one and two seater stuff. A pretty feudal setup, actually. The old SAC was its own strange world.

May God watch over ALL those serving in these trying times.

A good read: Amazon.com: Snakes in the Eagle's Nest: A History of Ground Attacks on Air Bases (9780833016294): Alan J. Vick: Books

That looks like a good book. What do they want for one?

 

[Bat Guano]

"That looks like a good book. What do they want for one?"

Pretty cheap in used condition. Click on the Amazon link for prices on used copies.

 

[cmort666]

I think base defense has been improved a lot in many cases. And they split my career field into separate LE and security specialties.

When I was at IOBC at Benning in '80, there were a bunch of AF security types going through with us.

 

[Comrad]

But will they be issued ammunition ?

Probably require paperwork in triplicate to requisition one round.

 

[jimmyj]

In the distant past our SOP was the M1911 was carried in condition 3 with only five rounds in the magazine. ( of course a guy I knew carried a full magazine in condition 1)