Common Battlefield Training for Airmen

Abstract : Air Force senior leadership has recognized the need for all airmen to possess a set of skills that will enable them to survive and operate in an expeditionary environment. This monograph provides the results of three connected analyses toward proposed training changes to build the future expeditionary airman. The first analysis used as its starting point a proposed training curriculum for common battlefield airman training (CBAT) developed by the Air Force Directorate of Operations (AF/A3O) and the Air Education and Training Command, Technical Training Division (AETC/A3T) for airmen within seven Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs) who operate outside the perimeter of an air base. These include combat controller technicians (combat control teams [CCTs]), pararescuemen (PJs), security forces (SF), terminal attack controllers, combat weathermen (battlefield weather teams [BWTs]), and specialties associated with explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and survival, evasion, resistance, and escape (SERE). In this analysis, the authors examined how CBAT affects the existing curriculum for these seven AFSCs. The second analysis used the results of the first to develop a CBAT plan of instruction (POI). Using this estimated POI, they computed CBAT resource requirements (e.g., training areas and devices, classrooms, and instructors) using the RAND Schoolhouse Model. The third analysis consisted of a survey of individuals in previously deployed, non-ground combat Air Force specialties to develop a list of incidents they faced in high-threat environments. Using these data, subject-matter experts were able to develop a list of training categories to prepare non-ground combat deployers for these situations.