Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Department of the Air Force Police Lt. Todd C. Barrett, Officer in Charge of marine patrol, conducts a safety briefing for Airmen before they depart the marina on MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., July 2, 2019.MacDill Conducts First Waterborne Firing Training
                        
                        
                        Department of the Air Force Police Lt. Todd C. Barrett, officer in charge of marine patrol, conducts a safety briefing for Airmen before they depart the marina on MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., July 2, 2019. Marine patrol briefs all personnel on safety procedures before they depart. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Lionel Castellano)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        An M240 machine gun mounted on a 6th Security Forces Squadron Secured Around Flotation Equipped Boat after the 6th SFS marine patrol conducted live fire training 12 miles off the coast of St. Petersburg, Fla., July 2, 2019.MacDill Conducts First Waterborne Firing Training
                        
                        
                        An M240 machine gun mounted on a 6th Security Forces Squadron Secured Around Flotation Equipped Boat after the 6th SFS marine patrol conducted live-fire training 12 miles off the coast of Saint Petersburg, Fla., July 2, 2019. The marine patrol ensures the safety of the 7.2-mile coastline by patrolling the perimeter 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Lionel Castellano)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

MacDill AFB conducts first waterborne firing trainingPublished July 12, 2019
                    
                    By Tech. Sgt. Lionel Castellano
                    
                    
                    6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
            **MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) --**The 6th Security Forces Squadron conducted its first waterborne proficiency firing training 12 miles off the coast of Saint Petersburg, Florida, July 2.
Sixth SFS marine patrol, with the support from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, fired an M240 machine-gun mounted on the front of a 30-foot long Secured Around Flotation Equipped Boat as part of a new proficiency firing training exercise.MacDill Air Force Base is one of only three bases that has a marine patrol unit.
The training took place in the center of a two-mile restricted area approximately 12 miles off the coast of Saint Petersburg, Florida. A Hillsborough County Sheriff's boat acted as a safety boat, while the marine patrol used a large orange buoy as their target.
“The defenders need to be trained like this,” said Lt. Todd C. Barrett, officer in charge of marine patrol. “They need to understand what it’s like to shoot from a moving boat at a moving target.”
The training didn’t go easy for the defenders. Out in the open water and with strong winds that day, they had to deal with high swells that the Airmen had to compensate for.
“The front of the boat coming up and the actual target moving with the waves at a distance, made it a little harder,” said Tech Sgt. Randall Perry, the 6th SFS noncommissioned officer in charge of combat arms. “You have to time it just right when to start squeezing the trigger with when the boat rises and falls and when the target rises and falls.”
Prior to the training, the marine patrol would fire on a solid surface at a target as part of the Air Force qualification course for the M240 machine gun at Avon Park, Florida.
“Not being able to get on-target right away was hard at first,” said Senior Airman Bryan C. Scott, a 6th SFS marine patrolman. “I just learned to wait for the swells.”
According to the 6th SFS, the proficiency firing training went well and they can continue to improve upon the training for the future.
“We’re going to go back and update the course so that it will be more in-depth for their proficiency firing training,” said Staff Sgt. Adam Branch, a 6th SFS marine patrolman. “We got a lot of good takeaways on what we need to change and what we need to work on.”
The 6th SFS wants to make this proficiency firing a quarterly training exercise.LR 



MacDill AFB 



training 



waterborne proficiency firing 



6th SFS 



security forces 



AF 



Air Force 



Coast Guard 



Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office 



M240 



Secured Around Flotation Equipped Boat 



Marine Patrol Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil