Air Base Ground Defense

{{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Usafsf1

Air Base Ground Defense (ABGD) is the operational term used by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

to denote ground

combat Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

operations in defense of U.S. Air Force bases. This specialty is filled by members of the Air Force Security Forces, who serve not only as military law enforcement officers, but also as ground combat

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

in defense of U.S. air bases around the world. In this capacity, their duties are similar to those performed by the

RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by royal warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such ta ...

and Royal Air Force Police of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, namely, to conduct ground combat operations as highly trained

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

troops, law enforcement and security in defense of U.S. air bases.

Camp Bullis Camp Bullis Military Training Reservation is a U.S. Army training camp comprising in Bexar County, Texas, USA, just northwest of San Antonio. Camp Bullis provides base operations support and training support to Joint Base San Antonio. The camp i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

is where all levels of Air Base Ground Defense (ABGD) are instructed, the course ranges in length from 4–6 weeks. In these weeks of training Air Force Security Forces are taught to operate the following weapons: M-4 Carbine, M-9, M-203, M-240B, M-249 (SAW), MK-19, M67 (hand grenade), M18A1 (Claymore mine), and the M-72 (LAW rocket), M-60 as well as other base defense weapons and tools. In 1966-1969, sentry dog teams used the Smith & Wesson K-38 Combat Masterpiece. Under the Interservice Agreement between the United States Air Force and the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, the U.S. Air Force is responsible for ground combat operations to defend U.S. air bases. Air Force Security Forces fulfill this mission, and, as such, are trained in the whole range of infantry tactics, to include patrolling, close quarters battle,

defense in depth Defence in depth (also known as deep defence or elastic defence) is a military strategy that seeks to delay rather than prevent the advance of an attacker, buying time and causing additional casualties by yielding space. Rather than defeating ...

crew-served weapons A crew-served weapon is any weapon system that is issued to a crew of two or more individuals performing the same or separate tasks to run at maximum operational efficiency, as opposed to an individual-service weapon, which only requires one per ...

, and other ground combat tactics. In the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

the role of ABGD primarily rests with the Low Altitude Air Defense Battalions and Marine Wing Support Squadrons. United States Air Force