Arming the Defenders

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Benjamin Sutton
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  The armory is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, houses more than 750 weapons and the staff is tasked with arming the security and law enforcement patrols who keep the base safe.

"The main mission of the base armory is to house and issue the weapons which protect and defend the base," said Staff Sgt. Richard Thomas, 366th Security Forces Squadron armory noncommissioned officer-in-charge. "We are also responsible for repairing and redistributing weapons to security forces personnel and hold weapons for certain base personnel."

The armory currently houses more than 45 personally owned weapons along with a wide variety of standard SFS weapons.

According to Thomas, residents must remember to fill out the firearm registration form, AF Form 1314, Firearms Registration and also complete a DD Form 2760, Qualification to Possess Firearms or Ammunition, acknowledging they do not have a qualifying conviction under the Lautenberg Amendment to the 1968 Gun Control Act.

"We store weapons for personnel who live in the dorms or are staying in the temporary lodging facility," said Senior Airman Andrew Keating, 366th SFS armorer. "We can register five weapons per AF Form 1314 for dorm personnel and additional weapons, if any, are documented on another 1314. However, personnel who live in base housing and are storing their weapons in their homes just need to fill out the form and file it with us here when they visit the armory."

Approximately 75-100 personnel a day come to the armory to get weapons.

"Security forces personnel are assigned a weapon and are responsible for it throughout their time stationed here at Mountain Home," said Thomas. "These weapons are zeroed out to the specifics of the individual who is responsible for them and are not given to any other Airman."

Armory personnel are ultimately responsible for the records, maintenance and cleanliness of all signed out weapons.

"We check all the necessary paperwork when our fellow Gunfighter Defenders come in to draw a weapon and double check the serial numbers before issuing it," said Keating. "Every month the flights come in and clean their issued weapons. We inspect them when they are finished to ensure the weapons are serviceable and up to standard."

When a weapon is damaged or not working properly, armory personnel get to find and fix the problem.

"If a weapon is broken the security forces personnel will bring it to us and we will fix the issue and take care of the necessary paperwork," said Thomas. "We also do specific weapon part inspections, such as rifle-barrels, ensuring quality."

These inspections are necessary as many of these weapons deploy with the Airman it is assigned to.

"Every year we send approximately 100 weapons downrange between temporary duties and deployments," said Thomas. "These are the weapons which keep Gunfighters, coalition partners and local nationals' safe downrange."

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