Combat Arms instructors prepare JBER Airmen for combat

Published May 16, 2012
By Airman 1st Class Omari Bernard
JBER Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- A command is given and the sound of gunfire resounds as ammunition is fired down range. Ejected shells litter the floor as eyes peer down the barrel through iron sights at the intended target. Ready for the next volley, a single breath is held, the body freezes and a trigger squeezed. Boom!

Within the Air Force, there is a special group of security forces Airmen who are qualified to instruct other Airmen in weapons. They are known as Combat Arms instructors. These defenders teach weapons maintenance, inspection and proper weapon handling and sighting techniques.

Training instructors of the combat arms course work hard to train and prepare all Airmen for contingency and augmentee operations as well as deployments to overseas contingency operations.

Approximately 3,000 students are trained annually at Combat Arms, said Tech. Sgt. Nikolas Cordatos, the non-commissioned officer in charge of Combat Arms with the 673d Security Forces Squadron.

The combat arms instructors are responsible for the training of all JBER Airmen tasked for contingency training or deployment.

It is every Airman's responsibility for the defense of their base said Cordatos, a Bennington, N.H., resident.

The combat arms course has evolved and adapted to current events, and Airmen can expect to receive more technical training. Changes have been made to most of the weapons courses. Instead of firing 100 rounds, the average student will now fire 198 rounds in training, excluding Security Forces and Special Forces who can expect to fire even more ammunition.

Included in the course are specific drills designed to engage specific targets when instructed to. Students are now given commands they could possibly hear down range such as target front, target left, target one and target two while moving forward to a firing position.

"The training is vital, especially when it comes down to security as a whole," Cordatos said. "All Airmen must complete live-firing training in order to meet deployment tasking."
In order to pass the Combat Arms course it is required to qualify in each and every training section. If failed, the student will be able to retest in the failed area at a remedial course where the instructors will go more in depth to help the student.

"The Combat Arms instructors are highly skilled and well trained. In order to become an instructor you need to be a Security Forces member and attend an eight-week course on Lackland, Air Force Base, (Texas)," said Cordatos.

There, future instructors take an intense course where they learn complete disassembly of numerous weapons systems, cover teaching and lecture at the school, written and practical exams that include detailed strips where the weapon is completely disassembled, and the student is required to name off all the parts and reassemble the weapon together and have it function.

"Our outstanding instructors are great and very knowledgeable," Cordatos said. "They want to be here, they want to be Combat Arms instructors."

Combat arms instructors take pride in what they do, from teaching maintenance and safety, to tactical movement and shooting techniques. Their training prepares current and future Airmen for combat downrange.