CATM qualifies aircrew

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Mark Olsen
  • 514th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
PENSACOLA, FL, UNITED STATES --  If an aircrew finds itself in enemy territory, the training they received from the 514th Security Forces Squadron’s Combat Arms Training and Maintenance (CATM) team will mean the difference between life and death.
CATM’s mission is to prepare Airmen in case they ever need to use a weapon.
The CATM team trained four C-17 Globemaster III pilots and two loadmasters with the 732nd Airlift Squadron, 514th Air Mobility Wing, on the M9 pistol at the pistol range at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Fla., Nov. 17, 2017.
“The new requirements is that they qualify annually,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Chiarella, CATM Instructor. “In order to pass, they have to get 35 rounds on paper (target).”
“Two made expert scoring 25 or more rounds in body and six or more in the head portions of the target,” said Chiarella. “Everyone qualified today.”
The training combines re-familiarizing the pilots and loadmasters with handling and loading the pistol, as well as firing at targets at seven, 15, and 25 meter intervals in order to qualify.
It is these skills gained at the range that will serve them while in a combat zone.
Chiarella, who is a traditional reservist and serves as a policeman with the Jersey City Police force, brought a different level of experience to the training.
“Most of the time, when you draw a weapon on someone, that person is seven yards away,” said Chiarella. He emphasized that that was critical space where a person would be shooting a pistol.
The training took place prior to a humanitarian mission to the Republic of Haiti by the 514th Air Mobility Wing flight crew, which is an Air Force Reserve Command unit located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
“The training was unique because it was away from home station,” said Chiarella. “And it was in conjunction with a real-time mission – in combination with moving an aircraft and personnel, we were still be able to qualify everyone safely.”