Trainee: Move forward. Move forward.
[explosions]
Narrator: This ...
MTI: Stop talking when I'm talking!
Narrator: Is Air Force boot camp.
Before they join the United States Air Force
or Space Force,
all trainees must graduate from the Air Force's
7.5-week basic military training program,
known as BMT.
Jeffrey Pixley: Our mission is to motivate, train,
and inspire the next generation of airmen
to deliver 21st-century air power.
MTI: Hut, hut, hut, hut!
Narrator: Training happens here,
at Lackland Air Force Base,
located just 10 miles outside
of downtown San Antonio, Texas.
On a sweltering week in August,
Insider spent four days observing different squadrons
at various stages of training.
Cody Ward: Whenever I said I was going Air Force,
everybody was like, "Oh, the Chair Force."
Like, "Basic's gonna be nothing."
And I was sitting there thinking,
"Man, I should have went another route.
This is going to be way too easy."
Ward: And I could not have been more wrong.
Narrator: On day one, new trainees arrive
on a bus from the San Antonio Airport.
Trisha Dodson: Some of these kids come here
never having left home.
You know, no job experience,
but not long after they leave here,
they're going to be given a job and a task
and expected to perform that task with no supervision.
MTI: Bear-hug your bag so nothing falls out.
Narrator: About 35,000 trainees
graduate from BMT each year.
Pixley: The average age of a basic trainee
here at BMT is 20.6 years old.
What that means is they don't remember a time
when our nation wasn't at war,
but they raised their hand anyway
and they said they want to serve.
Narrator: All trainees are sorted into smaller groups,
known as flights.
Although training squadrons are composed
of both male and female trainees,
the flights are divided by gender.
During zero week, male trainees receive haircuts.
Female trainees must wear their hair in a bun,
a ponytail, or up to two braids.
Clip: Right away, the Air Force wants to get
a little muscle on those pretty arms.
Narrator: Females were first allowed to join the Air Force
in limited roles in 1948
and in 1976 began being accepted
on an equal basis with males.
Today, 20% of the Air Force's
active-duty service members are female,
along with about 25% of all trainees at BMT.
Trainees learn how to line up and march in formation
from their military training instructor, or MTI,
which for some can be easier said than done.
MTI: There you go. Leave it all on the track.
Narrator: Mornings at BMT begin at 0600
with physical training.
MTI: Five seconds!
Come on, man, keep going!
All right, you're done.
Narrator: All trainees must pass a physical fitness test
during the fifth week of their training,
which consists of one minute each
of push-ups and sit-ups,
as well as a timed 1.5-mile run.
Good job! Keep going, gentlemen!
Ward: They kind of flip a switch during PT
from MTI to personal trainer.
Good job, good run!
Ward: Like, they come in and they really encourage you.
If you're struggling, they'll tell you, like,
"Hurry up, let's get this done,"
and they'll do it with you.
MTI: There you go, burn through this last lap.
Narrator: After morning PT,
it's time for breakfast, known as chow.
But meals aren't a time for relaxation.
Narrator: It's the responsibility of the chow runner
to announce their flight's arrival to the dining facility.
Lionel Smith: You got to do the right amount of steps,
the right drill movements,
you got to say the right words,
or you're going to get screamed at.
MTI: What are you doing?! What is happening right here?!
Narrator: Chow runners who don't follow procedures correctly
may face the wrath of the snake pit,
the area where MTIs sit during meals.
MTI: You looked, stepped out in traffic,
then almost got ran over
because it was not your turn.
There's no explanation for it. Back off.
It really is an important job because
you represent your flight.
They put people in there who've got
confidence issues to build their confidence.
MTI: So your forgetting to do so is what got you —
stop talking when I'm talking!
Smith: You got to really be stable
to be able to remember everything
and then be in that fire and perform well.
After doing it a few times, it get easier.
Narrator: Attention to detail
is a critical aspect of BMT,
and it starts in the dormitory.
Trainees are expected to keep their living areas
and uniforms in pristine condition,
and both are inspected regularly by their MTIs.
Dodson: There's a plethora of things
that they have to make sure are perfect down to the T,
and if they aren't, we're going to let them know
that this does not meet the standard.
They're going to be expected to correct it.
Narrator: During zero week,
each trainee is assigned a rifle,
which they learn to care for.
MTI: My heels are pretty much trying to touch the ground,
and I'm facing downrange.
Narrator: 35% of BMT is classroom instruction.
MTI: Right now, what you're going to do
is go to the high kneeling position.
Narrator: Trainees learn the basics
of how to hold their rifles
in a variety of different shooting positions.
Pixley: Because we're an expeditionary force,
an airman can find themselves in any location
around the world really at a moment's notice,
so we have to maintain our qualifications
and our service weapon.
MTI: Hut, hut, hut, hut!
Narrator: Nowhere is attention to detail
more apparent than in drill practice.
[MTI chanting]
Mikesha Jones: Drill is a lot of
precision and discipline
incorporated into certain movements in a formation.
I will say, during the first couple weeks of training,
they are drinking from a fire hose.
The drill is much more difficult for them
because they are having an overload of information
being given to them.
[MTI chanting]
Jones: Typically after the second or third week of training
is when it all starts to make a little bit of sense,
and around that time is when it looks a lot better.
Narrator: Training culminates in week six
with an event known as BEAST,
which stands for basic expeditionary airman skills training.
Learie Gaitan: BEAST puts them through all the things
that they have learned in five and a half, six weeks,
and we rehearse it, if you will.
Narrator: During BEAST week,
trainees live in a simulated combat environment
and are tested on various
field training exercises and scenarios.
Gaitan: I want their backs to hurt,
and I want their feet to hurt
after that five days of training out in the field,
because they need to ingrain to them
right now the character;
what's it take to be a agile airman and a agile guardian
in the United States Air Force?
[gunshots]
Narrator: During combat arms training and maintenance,
trainees learn how to handle and fire an M4 carbine.
Narrator: Trainees first learn how to safely load
and fire their weapons in the classroom,
before heading out to the firing range.
Instructor: The line is ready.
Fire!
[gunshots]
Narrator: Where they'll fire their weapons
from several different positions.
Trainees fire a total of 76 rounds
and must hit their target on at least 12 of them.
Trainees who score a 22 or higher qualify as expert.
Deroni Brown: If they lose fundamentals,
they get frustrated.
They get frustrated, they tend not to qualify.
Instructor: You guys ready? All right, let's go do it again. Let's go!
Brown: But if you keep them motivated,
that part will ensure that they either qualify
or get that expert.
Pixley: There's a sense of accomplishment
that when an airman leaves here,
that they're confident in holding and operating a weapon.
Some people come here, they've never touched any weapon
of any kind in their life.
So that confidence is important to us.
Narrator: Trainees don gas masks during CBRN training,
where they learn how to protect themselves
during a chemical, biological,
radiological, or nuclear attack.
Trainee: Let's go, let's go, let's go!
Get out of here!
Narrator: Trainees run through a simulated attack
and conduct post-attack reconnaissance
of their surrounding area,
where they check for damage
as well as any unexploded explosive ordnance.
Due to COVID-19 protocols,
trainees are not exposed
to any dangerous chemicals during BMT,
but training that does include exposure
is scheduled to return in early 2022.
Trainee: 2 feet? OK, 2 feet, 24 inches.
Tyler Pennington: I believe it's 97 degrees right now,
and the gear that they're wearing
adds about 15 degrees of body heat.
So it's challenging both physically and mentally.
Instructor: I know it's hot, I know it's miserable out here,
but you need to make sure you're paying attention.
Pennington: I think it's a unique experience.
I remember the first time I put on a gas mask
and how cool I thought it was,
but there's no doubt that after wearing that gear
for a few hours, especially in the Texas heat,
they probably get tired of it pretty quickly.
I like to joke with some of my students and tell them,
"Hey, the best part of CBRN
is returning the gear at the end of the day."
Justina Attwell: Figuring out how to coordinate
with your team, that would be the most difficult part.
Especially in all that really clunky gear,
it's hard to move around.
But it was still fun.
Narrator: Trainees are also trained
in tactical casualty combat care,
or TCCC,
which teaches them how to perform
potentially lifesaving first aid in combat.
MTI: Once I go through once, I'm going to go back
the opposite direction.
That's what's going to create that direct pressure.
Narrator: The trainees learn how to properly
apply tourniquets
as well as how to evacuate a wounded airman to safety,
skills they'll need to know when it comes to
the culminating event of BEAST week,
simply known as "the village."
The trainees' mission is to infiltrate the village
and rescue an injured airman located somewhere inside.
But the sounds of gunfire
and explosives,
along with the presence of role-players
acting as opposing forces and innocent bystanders,
make for a stressful environment.
We all kind of rushed in and then
didn't really know what to do.
We were all just kind of, like,
looking around like, "What the heck is going on?"
Attwell: We had a plan, and then it completely fell apart.
Like, as soon as we walked through,
pretty much, it fell apart.
Role-player: Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang,
bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang,
you're all dead.
Michael Ang: We are responsible
for throwing the different scenarios at them,
having them feel the pressure
while they're out here at the village.
That way they can actually use their minds
and think about what it is that we've taught them
and trained them on in a scenario
where they're actually under pressure.
Trainee: Put your hands above your head.
Spread your fingers.
Spread your feet.
Narrator: Trainees are taught how to
defuse situations with opposing forces ...
Trainee: Halt. Sir, halt.
Narrator: And are instructed to use minimal force
on those who are noncompliant.
Narrator: But the stressful environment
can cause some trainees to freeze.
Role-player: Can I see?
Oh, thank you.
Narrator: Or overreact.
Trainees: Halt! Drop your weapon on the ground!
Fire, trigger, trigger, trigger!
Ang: Some of the things that I see most of the time
which is very detrimental to our force
is trainees utilizing deadly force
when they're not supposed to be.
Ang: Obviously we all know that's against code.
It sets us back in a mission
that we're trying to accomplish overseas.
Role-player: Bang. Hey, sir.
Common mistakes, not forming that 360-degree perimeter.
I see that all the time.
Hey, wingman,
bang.
No 360-degree perimeter.
I want them to make mistakes.
I want to correct those mistakes
and tell them this is why it was a mistake
and move forward from it.
MTI: Y'all are all trained in TCCC, right?
Somebody save this downed airman then.
Narrator: Once the trainees reach the injured airman,
they must quickly and safely apply TCCC ...
Williams: Wake up. Calm down and think.
Narrator: Before evacuating them to safety.
Trainee: You guys ready? We're going this way. Let's go.
Ang: Hey, this is why we train out here.
This is why we harp on all of those things
that we teach you when you're doing FEST and TCCC,
because all of this stuff comes into play
whether you're here or downrange,
and you have to apply real world.
Hey, if you shoot somebody out in the desert
and they didn't have
opportunity, capability, and intent,
you're going to Leavenworth.
We try and expose the mistakes.
That way they can make them here,
where it's a safe environment,
and actually leave the village
with a different understanding
of where they need to work on themselves.
Good job.
Trainees: Thank you, sir.
Narrator: Having survived BEAST week,
the trainees return to base
with the toughest week of BMT behind them.
Pixley: They see it often as a rite of passage.
They've been out there.
They've achieved that difficult thing,
so by the time they come back from BEAST,
there's a new sense of accomplishment.
Narrator: Friends and family gather
to see their new airmen and guardians graduate.
Pixley: It's remarkable to watch how in just seven weeks,
which is not very long,
it can make such a difference in someone's life.
They walk a different way. They talk a different way.
The amount of confidence they exude
and the pride that they obviously have
after having gone through this
is so clear and so evident.
[crowd cheering]
Narrator: After graduating from basic military training,
airmen and guardians head to technical school
to start the next chapter in their journey
in the US Air Force and Space Force.
Gaitan: Those who joke about us being the Chair Force,
I would tell you, well,
it's easier to sit in a chair than it is to sit on a rock.
We must outthink our enemies every single day
in how we fight.
But what I would tell those who joke
is to stand the posts,
because we have a nation to defend.