Basic training creates mission-ready Airmen

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Al Burke
  • 326th Training Squadron commander
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  Air Force leaders expect basic military training squadrons to deliver a tough program, professionally. Trainees want it tough as well, officials here said.

This is great because training officials said they deliver. Graduates complete a rigorous indoctrination program and leave here as highly trained, disciplined, physically fit and mission ready Airmen for the U.S. Air Force, officials said.

How does BMT do it? Through an intense six-and-a-half week program that starts at “zero week” when the recruits first arrive and ends in the sixth week when they graduate as Airmen.

Throughout basic training, military-training instructors and staff focus on eight key areas:

-- Military bearing and discipline.

-- Attention to detail.

-- Marching, drill and ceremonies.

-- Military customs and courtesies.

-- Education on the Air Force culture, organization and standards of conduct.

-- Physical-readiness training.

-- Deployment and the ability to survive and operate in a wartime environment.

The basic-training staff focuses on these overlapping areas throughout the entire course to ensure Airmen can serve in the expeditionary Air Force in stressful environments under arduous conditions. To ensure this end result, the training instructors use a proven training formula, they said.

“This process starts as soon as the new recruits step off the bus,” said Senior Master Sgt. Mike Garvin, training superintendent for the 326th Training Squadron. “This is when MTIs start building the foundation of bearing and discipline with intense training. This intense training continues throughout the entire time they are here. Intense training means MTIs continually instruct, inspect, question and provide feedback on their trainees to ensure they are meeting or exceeding the standards at all times.

“MTIs first instruct the trainees by delivering classes and briefings on dorm set up, drill and rules, and expectations throughout basic training. Immediately after each class the trainees then get the opportunity to apply the instruction under the watchful eye of their instructor,” Sergeant Garvin said. “The MTI gives feedback during the application, both positive and negative, to ensure the trainees are placed on a path to succeed. A successful MTI will continue to follow up on the performance for the remainder of training and hold (trainees) accountable when they fail to meet the standards.”

By the end of “zero week,” trainees have transformed from a civilian in street clothes to a new military member with boots and battle-dress uniforms.

“The basic ingredient in building a military foundation is bearing and discipline,” Sergeant Garvin said. “In order for these future leaders to be successful, they must acquire this trait.”

Throughout their training, trainees are given jobs that require them to develop an attitude of constantly paying attention to detail and precisely following simple instructions. Examples include: setting up their wall lockers and clothing drawers; giving specific reporting statements when they speak; setting up their dorm a precise way; and wearing the uniform properly. When they leave training, they may not have to line up the beds in their dorms but there are a lot of tasks that demand attention to detail and the discipline to properly execute instructions. Torqueing a bolt on a jet engine, loading weapons on an airplane and looking for improvised explosive devices in Iraq require this discipline, officials said.

From the moment the trainees arrive here, instructors are teaching proper military custom and courtesies.

“Trainees are taught that military custom and courtesies go beyond basic politeness and play an important role in building morale, esprit de corps, discipline and mission effectiveness,” said Tech. Sgt. Bea Fleureau, of the 326th TRS. “We ensure they understand that proper courtesies ensure respect for authority and are the foundation for self-discipline.”

The next step for trainees is to learn the culture, organization and standards of being in the Air Force.

“To meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s Air Force, we prepare and teach curriculum to the recruits that will instill particular values,” said 1st Lt. Anthony Damiani, chief of the training development branch. “Some of these include the Air Force core values; an appreciation for teamwork and discipline; Air Force history, structure, customs, courtesies and policies; and where the enlisted force fits in the total force.”

Basic training’s curriculum is also right in step with the chief of staff’s Sight Picture on being “fit to fight.” During the past year, BMT officials said they increased physical-readiness training to ensure graduates are fit Airmen that have the stamina necessary to excel in today’s expeditionary Air Force.

This six-day-a-week program consists of aerobic-training days, which alternate with general strength-training days designed to build core-body strength, officials said. Each session lasts 45 to 60 minutes. Before their final evaluation in the fourth week, trainees complete three weekly assessments to mark their progress. These assessments consist of a 2-mile run, push-ups and sit-ups. During the final evaluation, the 2-mile run is replaced with the new Air Force 1.5-mile run. During the sixth week, the Airmen complete a 2.5-mile “Airmen’s Run” and run the confidence course a second time.

Every Airman graduating from basic training is able to meet standards, and most Airmen far exceed them, officials said.

Surviving in a wartime environment is taught in the fifth week of basic training -- also known as Warrior Week.

“We train Airmen about today’s air (and space) expeditionary force by exposing them to and operating in a mock deployed setting,” said Capt. Simon Morgan, commander of the field training flight. “The training not only helps them gain confidence in themselves to operate in a deployed location but it also meets many of the predeployment-training requirements identified by the Air Force as being integral to (survival) and (operating) at a deployed location.”

During Warrior Week, trainees are trained and qualified in self-aid and buddy care; the law of armed conflict; Level 1 anti-terrorism training; and nuclear-, biological-, chemical- and conventional-defense training. They also learn temper-tent construction and are certified on the M-16. Trainees also receive familiarization training in basic security and field hygiene. Courses include classroom lectures with field application. Warrior Week concludes with a ceremony recognizing the trainee’s accomplishments and their transition to ‘Airmen.’

When basic training is completed, these new Airmen have transformed from the ordinary to the extraordinary, and they possess the foundation necessary for success in the Air Force, officials said.