Question for Air Force guys

The army took my 2" Case pocket knife in Basic, and then turned around and issued me a M-14 and a bayonet.

Click to expand...

I was in the Air Force from 1977 to 1981. I bought my first firearm when I was attending Tech School at Lowry AFB in Denver, CO. It was a Ruger 10/22 and I had no problem registering and keeping it at the base armory. I took it to my duty station in Mtn. Home, ID, and again had no issue keeping it at the base armory. It was later joined by a Marlin 336C, a Sears Ted Williams 20ga autoloader, and a Smith & Wesson Model 19 4" (when I turned 21.)

When I separated from the Air Force, I had orders for Upper Heyford, England, and all of those toys would have spent the duration at my parent's house.

You have gotten some good advice. As a former S.P. I can say wait until you get to your 1st. permanent duty base before you get your firearms. Check on the state laws before you move your firearms there. I would try to secure them off base. If you store them in the armory. They will be played with &possibly used. Check them often for use & or damage! If you have pictures, it helps prove damage. Then you may file a complaint & get damage fixed or covered! After breaking a rear target sight on a target pistol, they were quick to pay to have it fixed it, before I reported it! Get to know the people at the base range. That may be the only place to shoot in your area! These guys are usealy shooters themselves & are glad to help! Make friends at the range! Living off base is expensive & hard to find if near a big city or base. Do some research before moving there. You cannot take a private weapon to most overseas bases! There are some exceptions, but make sure before you do so. I do know of a few guys that bought weapons overseas & sold them before coming home, but that's a big risk! If you are caught it can lead to some very unpleasant events! Like I said try to secure them off base if possible! Good luck, and watch your six! NO ONE ELSE WILL! KEEP COPIES OF EVERYTHING! That could save you alot of grief later! Thank-you for volunteering to serving the people &the nation! I hope your tour will be smooth, quite & without any danger to you & the others that serve with you!

Bought a pistol through the R&G Club at RAF Alconbury in England, to the best of my recollection they stored it at the club till I came back to CONUS.
Dunno how they work it at overseas installations nowdays, it'd probably vary somewhat.

I did the required import paperwork & brought it home with no hassles.
Denis

Welcome to the club! Aircraft maintenance is a great career field.

Concur with advice on not bringing guns to basic or tech school.

Best to wait until you get to your permanent duty station. Once you get settled in, contact your supervisor and/or your squadron First Sergeant and get a feel for what the rules are at that base at that particular time. Then proceed accordingly. Remember that as an "under E-4 under 4" your "rights" are very limited. Keep your head down. What's true today might have changed by the time you get there.

Decoder:
Army provost marshal = Air Force security forces HQ (formerly security police= cops)
Army barracks = Air force dormitory
The Air Force went through a "kinder and gentler" phase in the '70s and changed a lot of the old military terms.

I seriously doubt they'd take 'em in that way.
You could ask, well BEFORE you take any guns on base at your first duty station.

Might just as well get used to the idea that, especially starting out, you do lose certain "rights" of civilian life when you sign up.
Easy, safe, convenient storage & access of your guns are some of those.
Denis

I will echo what someone said earlier. The policies related to weapons have changed dramatically just in the last three or four years. I respect the service of all prior service members on this forum but I would emphasize that the armed forces they served in in the 80s and 90s is not the one you will be joining. Take this into account when you make decisions based on our input.

Ft hood as an example. Just two years ago, you could get caught with a weapon at the gate, the MP would call your commander and it would be left up to the commander. Present day, same situation = handcuffs and federal charges. No questions asked.

It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders so I'm not too worried, I am just a bit concerned that some of the stories may give you a false idea of what you can get away with.

I owned a gun shop years ago and was near a base in Ca., so I dealt with a lot of very young airmen that were enthralled with firearms. I heard many horror stories from the guys that left their guns in the armory. Lots of young guys had access to them and they were handled and played with on a regular basis and I even heard instances of them being fired. I had guys tell me they would go to check out their gun and find it full of burnt powder from someone else using it. I don't think I would want to face this situation.

I am joining the USAF as an aircraft mechanic

Click to expand...

Military a strange place 3 of my HS buddies enlisted in Air Force to be aircraft mechanics . AF found other fields of work for them. I enlisted in Army for Infantry (I wanted to go Airborne ) I got the aircraft mechanic (crewchief then later after reenlisting Tec Inspector )
I spent 7 years in Aviation field. Then transfer to Military Police for my last 6 years. . Was a lot more fun than playing with aircraft.

I skimmed through a lot of postings, but here's my two cents worth as a retired Sailor:

When you first enlist, boot camp and the subsequent schools won't make it easy for you to relocate your guns. Especially if you're not living off base. And if you're going to be bouncing from school to school for a while...it's even more of a pain.

Leave your guns at home until you finally settle in at wherever your duty station ends up being, then do a little research.

If you live on base in the barracks, then the base CO is the one who establishes the policy for this. I lived in the barracks a few times while I was in the Navy and it's a real pain in the keister, in my opinion. The base CO had a policy, but I never actually used it. The guns had to be stored in the base armory, which meant that access was more limited than I desired, not to mention the process of getting out and then bringing them back. So I never did it.

If you live in the barracks, then I'd recommend storing them off base somewhere secure. I'll leave that up to you how you would do that. I had a storage unit and an actually small, 500 pound Protectall safe that I stored my handguns in. Some people kept them at their friend's houses and such. Whatever, be sure you do a realistic assessment of the relative safety of storing your firearms at your choices. Realize, also, that not all your buddies in the Air Force are necessarily as honest, safety conscious, and secure as you might assume.

If you live in base housing, then you need to check the housing rules. Firearms may be allowed, but might have to be registered with security

If you live off base, then it's your house/apartment and you can store them there.


Might I also suggest, and suggest very strongly, that you do some real world research on the firearms laws of the various states and major metropolitan areas you may end up either traveling through with your firearms or staying with your firearms. Whether you're the legal owner of a gun or not, some places are downright unfriendly about transporting them through their states or owning/using them. EVEN IF YOU'RE JUST TRAVELING THROUGH TO YOUR NEXT DUTY STATION.

Some places you may travel through or live in may also have restrictions on the kinds of firearms and ammunition you may have or things like magazine size limitations.

So do your research!


Oh yeah...if you own several firearms, you might just consider bringing a few of them with you and leaving the rest home. Just a thought!

I'm late to this, but it seems as though your questions have been answered and then some. You've gotten some good advice.

I'll jump on and agree that you should not even consider taking any form of weapon to MEPS prior to shipping out to Lackland. Wait til your leave between Tech school and your 1st permanent duty station.

Depending on where you get stationed, there is some lively gun culture on base.

As a 2A5X1, you may have the opportunity to do a lot of travel.

I was a Crew Chief on C-5s and later C-17s, and got into the Flying Crew Chief program. If your airframe allows it, it's an opportunity not to be missed (FCCs are heavy airframe only).

I know this bit of advise isn't gun related, but I'd also advise to have a guaranteed AFSC through your recruiter prior to signing anything. Also, unless you are really interested and qualified, ignore the AFSOC recruiters that come around while you're in boot. Accepting an AFSOC qualification can make you lose your guaranteed AFSC, and the washout rate is high.

Anyway, welcome aboard. Have fun, see the world, and enjoy yourself.

feel free to PM me any questions you have. im active duty right now.

so heres the flow

8.5 wks basic training at lackland

then you go to Sheppard AFB tx (most maintainers go here)
whats the AFSC they have you in? aircraft mechanic is pretty broad. so the AFSC and the airframe you get will decide how long your tech school is. some are as short as 6 weeks some are about a year (mostly linguist but im sure there are others)

when you graduate you will sit around any where from 2 days to 2 weeks to leave for your assignment

you get to the assignment and will spend a week in FTAC (first term airman center) aka welcome to the real air force this is how it really works (kinda)

depending on what you chose you might be able to take leave and go home on your way to your duty station. my recommendation is just go to your duty station from tech school then take leave a month or 2 later. that way you already have your dorm room(unless you're married). when you get there you will be able to talk to security forces to find out any requirements for storing guns in the armory.

i chose not to bring my guns for about 6 months. i was in flight training at my base and really only worked week days and had weekends off. the issue was the armory was only open during duty hours (mon-fri 730-430) i ended up making friends with a Flight engineer that is also a gun guy and he let me keep a few guns at his house. there was another guy i knew that got a storage unit and just kept his guns in there, but i wouldnt.

it will probably take you a while to find a local range and you will possibly get an overseas assignment (take the chance if you can im stuck at my base and not real happy with it)

Sooo...where do all the golf lessons come in at?

Chief,

they send us TDY to the navy base

Not really mentioned is that you may not even be PCS'd to a CONUS location.

Wave goodbye to your guns for a while.

AFS

I am army, but I have trained on Air Force bases.

I would call ahead, and also actually read the post commander's policy memos.

I am currently holding guns for friends who are living in non-friendly places. (Some of them for a LONG time.)

The state commander of the Utah National Guard has recently rescinded the policy stating 'no privately owned weapons on guard property'. While I am certainly glad he is on our side, I forsee a conflict with big army. There will be an incident on-post, and big army will assert it's policy. I suppose then we will see whose is bigger.

Many overseas bases have rod & gun clubs,,,

Many overseas bases have rod & gun clubs,,,
In Germany back in the 70's we had one with an on-base range.

If you were a member of the club,,,
You stored your rifle/shotgun/handgun there.

There was always a list of guns for sale,,,
It was easier to sell it than take it with you.

For example I had a Savage bolt-action 22 rifle,,,
Records showed that I was the 8th owner of that rifle.

Kind of like cars,,,
Most just get sold to a newbie when the owner goes PCS.

Aarond

.

Points....

One point Id make is that many of these posts(including mine) are anictdotal & may be dated information.
The US armed forces have changed greatly in the last 10/15 years.
CONUS installations or bases are run-regulated by DoD civilians or federal employees(sometimes contract workers). Post or base CGs(commanding generals) or Admirals might dictate what service members can or can not do but some SOPs come directly from the SECDEF(Sec of Defense) or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS).
My 2nd duty station, Fort Lee VA was a "open post" when I was there in the early 1990s. The public or service members had open access or could move freely around the military installation.
In 05/2013 when I went by Fort Lee to visit, it was a lot different.
A contract security guard checked my DL and vehicle reg. There were fewer soldiers and more DA employees too.

First things ,first. Enjoy Basic.

Then tech school.

Then when you permanent party (duty station) check out what`s needed
(there are always...regulations. )


USAF 1952-57.

Ok let me preface this by saying my opinion is based solely on my experiences.

Personally I would not recommend taking any firearms with you unless you are living off base, which, as an E-1-E-4, you would only be allowed to do if you are married.

While you technically can store personal firearms in the armory and are supposed to have 24/7 access to them, as long as the base commander deems your reason for checking them out legitimate, know that long guns will be stored on racks right next to M-16's, M-4's, and M-249's, handguns will be stored in a footlocker that has two layers of M-9's inside. Also from personal experience the armorers will be on call but will take their sweet time coming from their barracks room or house to issue you your personal guns.

On top of that you can add in TDY and various training that you will go to during your time in the military where you cannot take your guns with you and the fact that you will most likely have a very limited amount of time and money to actually use them. Overall to me it just doesn't make sense unless you're married and have a family to protect.

Please understand that I'm not saying that you can't, or even that you shouldn't, but the hoops you will jump through to be able to register them and use them make it much less appealing.

One exception I would make to living off base is family base housing on bases that allow you to store your firearms in your house after you register them. That way you can carry, if legal, during family outings off base.

Also I will say that my information is based off of being stationed at various Marine and Navy bases from 2008-2010 so things will likely be slightly different now in the Air Force.

paintballdude902 said:

Chief,

they send us TDY to the navy base

Click to expand...

But we have very poor golf courses compared to Air Force facilities!

shoot chief, ive only been to 1 AF base with a decent one (theyre a nice place to run, i havent hit a golf ball since high school) MCAS Cherry point had a decent on that my dad used to play on.

maybe ive just been to allot of crummy bases or ones near the coast so the soil is just sand. keesler (brown with big bare spots), lackland(brown/dead), Hurlburt(it could be worse, atleast its not dead). fairchild didnt have one that i saw (only spent a month there for SERE)

I was in from '01 to '05, stationed at Beale. I had to keep my guns at the armory until I moved off-base. Then I got to keep them at home.

If you can move off base and find a place for less than your BAH you can pocket the difference.

Do NOT bring your guns to tech school. It would just be a headache. I was an AGE guy and my school was 6 months. Not too sure about crew chiefs.....probably depends on the airframe.