Sir:

Regarding the USAF captain's comments on the combat readiness of my fellow USAF troops, he's right; it is very low. Unfortunately, no airman is going to see the pressing need to be "combat ready" until the Air Force decides that our duty in a combat zone is to fight rather than simply die. In the event of invasion, all of our contingency plans seem to involve low-ranking airmen playing "kamikaze" and forfeiting our lives while we tend to the disposal of sensitive materials. Throwing myself on a grenade to save my unit is one thing; but the Air Force basically expects us to take the grenade into our hand, pull the pin, and hold onto it while we wait for it to explode, just to make sure that the enemy doesn't get ahold of the grenade. The metaphor is actually quite literal in the case of the munitions squadron; if their plan is carried out perfectly, the airmen carrying it out will blow themselves up with the bombs they built.

Many of us know the score and don't particularly see the importance of being physically fit in order to die. Maybe if they actually armed us in the field, the story would be different. The information I protect is important enough for us to protect with our lives, but not, apparently, important enough for us to protect with rifles.

We see how we rate.

Very Respectfully,
Senior Airman, USAF