Basic cadets get combat arms training

  • Published
  • By Ray Bowden
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Vanessa Campbell lay on a thin mat and aimed the M4 Carbine Rifle. She squeezed the trigger, firing a burst of 5.56 mm bullets toward her target at more than 2,000 mph.

Campbell, 18, is a basic cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy. She and other basic cadets assigned to the Flying Tigers Basic Cadet Training Squadron fired the M4 Carbine Rifle while attending the basic marksmanship course at the Academy's Combat Arms range June 22.

Every basic cadet who began BCT June 25 is scheduled to take the course, said Staff Sgt. Scott Maciel, the NCO in-charge of Combat Arms.

"Our goal is to provide a safe environment for the basic cadets to get familiarized with the M4 - the Air Force's most commonly-used weapons system," he said.

The range, managed by Maciel and other 10th Security Forces Squadron Airmen and civilians, is regularly used by cadets, Airmen assigned to the Academy, Cheyenne Mountain, Peterson and Schriever Air Force bases, and local law enforcement officers.

Each BCT squadron will visit the range to shoot the basic marksmanship course. Maciel and his team began hosting two classes a day for the basic cadets July 21 and expect about 69 shooters to attend each class, he said. The course ends July 28.

Maciel said hosting an entire BCT squadron at the range is a complex operation. Along with inspecting and preparing the weapons basic cadets will fire, Maciel's team orders the ammunition and trains the cadet cadre who help them supervise the basic cadets.

Staff Sgt. Justin Block was the Combat Arms tower official, a position allowing him to control and supervise the entire event.

"He's got the most important job out here," Maciel said. "He oversees everything, he makes sure the Combat Arms staff is watching the cadet cadre and the cadets, and keeps everyone here safe."

Campbell learned more about how to handle a weapon in the first hour of the course than she'd previously learned in her life, she said. 

"I'd fired a weapon before but not like this," she said. "The Combat Arms staff is really knowledgeable. Before, I didn't know how to hold a weapon properly but I've learned today how to do that too."

Maciel said the Academy's ability to safely maintain one of the most widely-used firing ranges in the Air Force is due to the dedication and skill of the Combat Arms staff.

"When it comes to not only serving a base populace, but tacking on an additional 800 cadets, most of whom have never touched a weapon without any safety incidents - that's very impressive in my book," he said. "As long as the basic cadets get some knowledge on how to safely handle and shoot the weapon it is a big win," he said.

Basic cadets can't fail the course because its primary purpose is to introduce them to the fundamentals of handling any weapon, Maciel said.