June 14, 2006: The U.S. Air Force has rediscovered ground combat. While the 24,000 air force security personnel were always ready to roll with their infantry weapons and tactics, the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has made it essential for a lot more air force people to learn how to fight on the ground. To deal with that, the air force has established an 18 day long Ground Combat Skills course (GCS). The air force has several locations set up to give the course, and most airmen headed for Iraq, Afghanistan or South Korea go through it. The training includes handling weapons, as well as a large variety of ground vehicles (including forklifts), in a combat situation. The last two days of the course are spent in the field, running through realistic situations, often using live ammunition. The most intense combat exercises use simunitions. These are low velocity, non metal bullets fired by (modified) standard weapons. The simunitions will sting (and leave a paint spot on your uniform) if they hit, and this adds another layer of realism to the exercise. Nearly all the instructors have already served in a combat zone, and the training is constantly updated with new information from the combat zone. The last 48 hours involves sleep deprivation, night operations, convoys and the kind of stress to be found in ground combat.