What New Air Force Recruits Go Through In Boot Camp | Boot Camp

[Music] is air force boot camp before they join the united states air force or space force all trainees must graduate from the air force's seven and a half week basic military training program known as bmt our mission is to motivate train and inspire the next generation of airmen to deliver 21st century air power training happens here at lackland air force base located just 10 miles outside of downtown san antonio texas on a sweltering week in august insiders spent four days observing different squadrons at various stages of training whenever i said i was going air force i was like oh the chair force like basic's gonna be nothing and i was sitting there thinking man i should have went another route this is gonna be way too easy you're wearing your failure all over your face and i could not have been more wrong on day one new trainees arrive on a bus from the san antonio airport some of these kids come here never having left home you know no job experience but not long after they leave here they're going to be given a job and a task and expected to perform that task with no supervision there hug your back enough to close out that's all this gun about 35 000 trainees graduate from bmt each year the average age of a basic training here at bmt is 20.6 years old what that means is they don't remember a time when our nation wasn't at war but they raised their hand anyway and they said they want to serve all trainees are sorted into smaller groups known as flights although training squadrons are composed of both male and female trainees the flights are divided by gender during zero week male trainees receive haircuts female trainees must wear their hair in a bun a ponytail or up to two braids right away the air force wants to get a little muscle on those pretty arms females were first allowed to join the air force in limited roles in 1948 and in 1976 began being accepted on an equal basis with males today 20 percent of the air force's active duty service members are female along with about 25 of all trainees at bmt trainees learn how to line up and march in formation from their military training instructor or mti [Applause] which for some can be easier said than done [Music] there you go leave it all on track mornings at bmt begin at 0-600 with physical training come on man keep going all right you're done all trainees must pass a physical fitness test during the fifth week of their training which consists of one minute each of push-ups and sit-ups as well as a timed one and a half mile run good job keep going gentlemen they kind of flip a switch during pt from mti to personal trainer good job good run like they come in and they really encourage you if you're struggling they'll tell you like hurry up let's get this done and they'll do it with you there you go through this last one after morning pt it's time for breakfast known as ciao but meals aren't a time for relaxation sir flight 727 dormitory alpha 1 is prepared to enter the dining facility from the west side it's the responsibility of the chow runner to announce their flight's arrival to the dining facility from the east side bring them in and seat them yes sir thank you sir you gotta do the right amount of steps the right drill movements you got to say the right words or you're going to get screened chow runners who don't follow procedures correctly may face the wrath of the snake pit the area where mtis sit during meals you looked stepped out in traffic and almost got ran over because it was not your turn there's no explanation for it back up really it's an important job because you represent your flight they put people in there who got confident issues you know to build their confidence so you're forgetting to do so because we've got you stop talking what i'm talking you got to really be stable to be able to remember everything and then be in that fire and you know perform well after doing it a few times it gets easier attention to detail is a critical aspect of bmt and it starts in the dormitory trainees are expected to keep their living areas and uniforms in pristine condition and both are inspected regularly by their mtis there's a plethora of things that they have to make sure are perfect down to the t and if they aren't we're going to let them know that this does not meet the standard they're going to be expected to correct it during zero week each trainee is assigned a rifle which they learn to care for my heels are pretty much trying to touch the ground and i'm facing downrange 35 of bmt is classroom instruction right now what you're going to do is go to the high viewing position trainees learn the basics of how to hold their rifles in a variety of different shooting positions because we're an expeditionary force an airmen can find themselves in any location around the world really at a moment's notice so we have to maintain our qualifications and our service weapon nowhere is attention to detail more apparent than in drill practice drill is a lot of precision and discipline incorporated into certain movements in a formation we'll say during the first couple weeks of training they are drinking from a fire hose the drill is much more difficult for them because they are having an overload of information being given to them typically after the second or third week of training is when it all starts to make a little bit of sense and around that time is when it looks a lot better training culminates in week six with an event known as beast which stands for basic expeditionary airman skills training beast puts them through all the things that they have learned in five and a half six weeks and we rehearsed it if you will during beast week trainees live in a simulated combat environment and are tested on various field training exercises and scenarios i want their backs to hurt and i want their feet to hurt after that five days of training out in the field because they need to ingrain to them right now the character what does it take to be our agile airman and an agile guardian in the united states air force during combat arms training and maintenance trainees learn how to handle and fire an m4 carbine trainees first learn how to safely load and fire their weapons in the classroom before heading out to the firing range where they'll fire their weapons from several different positions trainees fire a total of 76 rounds and must hit their target on at least 12 of them trainees who score 22 or higher qualify as experts if they lose fundamentals they get frustrated they get frustrated they tend not to qualify you guys ready yes all right let's do it again let's go well if you keep them motivated that part will ensure that they either qualify or get that expert there's a sense of accomplishment that when an airman leaves here that they're they're confident in holding and operating a weapon some people come here they've never touched any weapon of any kind in their life so that confidence is important to us [Music] trainees don gas masks during sea burn training where they learn how to protect themselves during a chemical biological radiological or nuclear attack trainees run through a simulated attack and conduct post-attack reconnaissance of their surrounding area where they check for damage as well as any unexploded explosive ordnance due to covet 19 protocols trainees are not exposed to any dangerous chemicals during bmt but training that does include exposure is scheduled to return in early 2022. i believe it's 97 degrees right now and the gear that they're wearing adds about 15 degrees of body heat so it's it's challenging both physically and mentally i know it's hot i know it's miserable out here but you need to make sure you're paying attention i think it's a unique experience i remember the first time i put on a gas mask and how cool i thought it was but there's no doubt that after wearing that gear for a few hours especially in the texas heat they probably get tired of it pretty quickly i like to joke with some of my students and tell them hey the best part of seaburn is returning the gear at the end of the day ldp1 what is ldp one that's how you run figuring out how to coordinate with your team that would be the most difficult part especially in like all that really clunky gear it's hard to move around but it was still fun trainees are also trained in tactical casualty combat care or triple c which teaches them how to perform potentially life-saving first aid in combat once i go through once i want to go back the opposite direction that's what's going to create that direct pressure the trainees learn how to properly apply tourniquets as well as how to evacuate a wounded airman to safety [Music] skills they'll need to know when it comes to the culminating event of beast week simply known as the village the trainee's mission is to infiltrate the village and rescue an injured airman located somewhere inside but the sounds of gunfire and explosives along with the presence of role players acting as opposing forces and innocent bystanders make for a stressful environment we all kind of rush in and then didn't really know what to do we were all just kind of like looking around like what the heck is going on we had a plan and then it completely fell apart like as soon as we walked through pretty much it fell apart we are responsible for throwing the different scenarios at them having them feel the pressure while they're out here at the village that way they can actually use their minds and think about what it is that we've taught them and trained them on in a scenario where they're actually under pressure put your hands above your head trainees are taught how to defuse situations with opposing and are forces to use minimal force on those who are non-compliant what are you doing i don't comply but the stressful environment can cause some trainees to freeze some of the things that i see most of the time which is very detrimental to our force is trainees utilizing deadly force when they're not supposed to be why did you shoot me you have a grenade in your hand and a weapon in your hand sir how did you know it was a grenade you're that far away you don't know and i'm not pointing my weapon at you why would you shoot me obviously we all know that's against code it sets us back in a mission that we're trying to accomplish overseas bang hey sir common mistakes not forming the 360 degree perimeter i see that all the time hey man what are you doing right now no 360 degree perimeter i want them to make mistakes i want them i want to correct those mistakes and tell them this is why it was a mistake and move forward from it y'all are all training teacher we'll see right [Music] somebody sent us down there and then once the trainees reach the injured airmen they must quickly and safely apply t triple c wake up calm down and think before evacuating them to safety you guys ready we're going this way let's go hey this is why we train out here this is why we harp on all of those things that we teach you when you're doing fast and teacher we'll see because this all of this stuff comes into play whether you're here or downrange and you have to apply real world hey if you shoot somebody out in the desert and they didn't have opportunity capability and intent you're going to live and work we try and expose the mistakes that way they can make them here where it's a safe environment and actually leave the village with a different understanding of where they need to work on themselves good job having survived beast week the trainees returned to base with the toughest week of bmt behind them they see it often as a rite of passage they've been out there they've achieved that difficult thing so by the time they come back from beast there's a new sense of accomplishment friends and family gather to see their new airmen and guardians graduate it's remarkable to watch how in just seven weeks which is not very long it can make such a difference in someone's life they walk a different way they talk a different way the amount of confidence they exude and the pride that they obviously have after having gone through this is so clear and so evident so [Music] after graduating from basic military training airmen and guardians head to technical school to start the next chapter in their journey in the u.s air force and space force those who joke about us being the chair force i would tell you well it's easier to sit in a chair than just sit on a rock we must out thank our enemies every single day and how we fight but what i would tell those who joke is to stand the post because we have a nation to defend [Music] you

Channel: Business Insider

Views: 2,110,153

Keywords: Business Insider, Business News

Id: 5lr2eLtPVsM

Length: 15min 57sec (957 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 30 2021