Combat Arms team conducts annual training at Fort Knox

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Vicky Spesard
  • 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
KENTUCKY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, LOUISVILLE, Ky. --  A special team from the 123rd Security Forces Squadron here successfully completed two days of annual weapons qualification training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, May 17.

Weapons qualification is essential to the Combat Arms Training and Maintenance team, as their primary mission is to train base Airmen on the use of small arms and oversee the maintenance of weapons.

The 10-person CATM team also conducts firing range operations, weapons safety training, and care and maintenance of ammunition and equipment for members of the 123rd Airlift Wing.

"Maintaining weapons proficiency is extremely important for combat arms specialists," said Tech Sgt. Randall Ford Jr., the combat arms program manager. "The two days we spend on the range working with our weapons allows us to practice our safety procedures and weapons operations that we will, in turn, teach to base personnel."

While at Fort Knox, the team qualified with the M4 carbine/rifle, M9 Beretta pistol, M870 shotgun, M203 grenade launcher, M249/5.56mm machine gun and the M240B/7.62mm machine gun from several different firing positions.