Combat Arms Training and Maintenance Combat Arms Training and Maintenance ( CATM ) , or simply Combat Arms are United States Air Force Security Forces personnel who train base populace on the use of small arms , oversee , maintain and repair all small arms in the U . S . Air Force inventory . History . During the Korean War , several incidents occurred which called attention to the small arms training provided to Air Force personnel . The most significant was the tragedy at Kimpo Air Base , Korea , which was overrun by a numerically superior Chinese communist force . The Air Police Squadron was so overwhelmed that they were forced to fight a rear guard action before being annihilated . The general base population was then easily defeated before reinforcements arrived to drive the enemy back . The remaining personnel found alive by the Chinese were hung in the main hangar on Kimpo . This hangar still stands today as a memorial to those who died without a chance to fight . The resulting investigation revealed serious deficiencies in the way small arms training was perceived and carried out in the Air Force . Prior to the Korean War , no formal program of weapons training existed . One result was the inability of the majority of personnel at Kimpo to successfully defend themselves and the base . The majority of the base weapons were inoperable due to lack of maintenance . The few serviceable ones were of little use as personnel were not trained in their use , unable to even load or aim them . Only the Air Police were routinely trained in marksmanship and maintenance of small arms . The experience of the Korean War encouraged General LeMay , then Vice Chief of Staff and former Strategic Air Command commander , to pursue a course that was to change the way weapons training was received by Air Force personnel . In 1958 , twenty - five experienced USAF competitive shooters were selected to become the initial instructor cadre of the USAF Marksmanship Center located at Lackland Air Force Base , Texas . The marksmanship program was designed by Colonel Tom Kelly , former Commander of Holloman Air Force Base , New Mexico , and under the direction of Colonel Peter W . Agnell . The initial cadre attended the U . S . Army ' s advanced rifle marksmanship coaches class at Fort Benning , Georgia from 26 January to 15 February 1958 . The three - week training course included coaching techniques , range management , and procedures for the preparation of marksmanship training programs . The purpose of the initial cadre was to train Small Arms instructors and gunsmiths for assignment to all Air Force bases . With these personnel as a core for the newly formed USAF Marksmanship Center , bases throughout the world began selecting personnel to be sent to the center for training . On 5 November 1958 , the first class was conducted consisting of 32 students . The initial course was 12 weeks in duration and graduated qualified Small Arms instructors who returned to their bases to establish local Marksmanship Programs . The new instructors were awarded the Air Force Specialty Code ( AFSC ) 753X0 and the expanded program included intensive training for aircrews , Air Police , Air Base Defense personnel to improve the overall weapons capability of all Air Force personnel . In 1965 , the USAF Marksmanship unit ' s name was formally changed to Small Arms Marksmanship Training Unit ( SAMTU ) . This change designated what weapons the career field was responsible to train . Besides meeting local training objectives and conducting competitive rifle and pistol matches , Small Arms specialists set up and operated specialty courses . The USAF Sniper School , located at Fort Campbell , Kentucky , was one of these and existed from 1965 to 1967 . Its purpose was to train personnel to carry out their assigned duties effectively in the Republic of Vietnam . There was also a 72 - hour Southeast Asia ( SEA ) course in operation through 1971 . Its purpose was to prepare all Air Force personnel en route to Southeast Asia . [ NOTE : Some Air Force Snipers , who were assigned to the Air Commando units and were not instructors , were sent to the Marine Sniper School during 1965 - 1968 . ] Control of the marksmanship program moved from Washington D . C . to Randolph Air Force Base , Texas , in 1978 . This move was to enhance the program management . The career field again felt another change in 1982 when it was functionally restructured to report to the Air Force Office of Security Police . With this change came the re designation to " Combat Arms Training and Maintenance " ( CATM ) . On November 1 , 1993 , the AFSC was changed to more closely align the career field with the Security Police career field . The new designation was 3P1X1 for CATM instructors and 3P1X1A for gunsmiths . The career field also shared the same functional badge with Security Police and the Office of Special Investigations ( OSI ) , which designated the basic level , the 7 - level , and Senior NCO Academy graduate level . Since then the career field again changed and Combat Arms instructors were merged with Security Forces in 1997 , with the first graduating " Security Forces " Class on 10 April 1997 , becoming Security Forces first and Combat Arms as a " shred - out " of the AFSC . The new inclusive Security Apprentice course ) L3ABR3P031 - 000 ) became the norm with training at Lackland AFB , San Antonio , Texas . CATM instructors now have the AFSC of 3P0X1B through the rank of SSgt and are designed SEI 312 as TSgt and above . The Combat Arms Instructor ' s Creed . I am an Air Force Combat Arms Instructor . My country ' s strength lies in the men and women I train and their weapons which I maintain . < br > My students hold faith and place great trust in me . Their lives depend on my ability and their confidence in my integrity for in a time of war their talent will be needed . < br > They are to be treated with fairness and discretion for my country ' s resources are entrusted to their watchful eye , and their survival is in my hands . < br > My students I MUST NOT FAIL , My students I WILL NOT FAIL . For mine is a proud heritage and fostering it is my responsibility . < br > I am an Air Force Combat Arms Instructor " ours is the profession of arms " We train in peace , to prepare for war .