12/17/2014 – BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. — Thanks to feedback given during the Air Force Global Strike Command Force Improvement Program, security forces Airmen in the command are receiving equipment that will make them more effective in the field.
Soon, all AFGSC security forces units will have the M150 Rifle Combat Optic, which is a newer version of the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, said Brian Quenette, a program analyst with AFGSC’s Security Forces Requirements and Contingencies Branch.
“When the Air Force transitioned from the M-16 to the M-4 rifles, one of the benefits was a new reflex sight that allowed Airmen more flexibility,” Quenette said. “However, that sight doesn’t magnify, it just shows you what you can already see.”
Quenette said that during tiger team visits that grew out of the FIP, Airmen mentioned that the current sights weren’t adequate for their requirements in the field.
The M150 features a 4 x optic illuminated by fiber optics, and research by AFGSC found that the sight could be put on every rifle in the MAJCOM.
“This will give our Airmen the ability to engage rapidly, and it will also allow them to better engage targets at distance or at close range,” he added.
Thanks to funding provided through the FIP, the Command was able to purchase approximately 5,000 M150s, and are in the process of distributing them to all six wings and the security forces members at Camp Guernsey, Wyoming, where security forces members throughout the Command train.
In addition, “with the 377th [Air Base Wing, Kirtland, AFB, New Mexico] coming online, we’re already looking at what capabilities they have, and if we find that they need this site, we’ll provide it for them as well,” Quenette said.
So far, feedback on the new optics is very positive, Quenette said.
“The fun part is that like anything, people get used to what they have, so a few Airmen initially pushed back, but now the feedback from the field is that the Airmen really like the sight,” he said. “For many, it’s even improved their qualification scores on the weapon.”
Chief Master Sgt. Scott Daigneault, senior enlisted manager in the AFGSC Applied Capabilities Office, formally known as the FIP Office, said this purchase is big for the morale of security forces Airmen.
“The optic is fairly new to the Air Force inventory, and they’re getting it now instead of at the end of its life cycle,” he said. “They’re getting this before their peers, so our Airmen are finally seeing that the nuclear enterprise is indeed the Air Force’s number one mission.”
by Carla Pampe
Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs
