7th TDS Air Police    
                                         Firearms

 

                                                                                                               

7th TDS Gun Room (Armory) Card

This card was used by 7th TDS APs to draw their weapons from the armory  prior to a day, swing, or midnight shift (referred to as days, swings, and mids).  Following the drawing of weapons, and AP flight would stand for guard mount where an inspection might take place, post assignments were made, and other announcements made before going on duty.

 

 

M1/M2 .30 Caliber Carbine

Carried by 7th TDS Air Policemen when on tower guard duty or on walking post (Post 7) which was a night post around the 7th TDS site headquarters and communications building.

 

 

.45 Caliber Colt Automatic

Carried by 7th TDS APs on patrol and on gate guard duty.

 

Browning Automatic Rifle

This weapon was used during special weapons convoys.  A 7th TDS Air Policeman would ride shotgun on the back of flatbed truck with the Mark 28s and "birdcages" during the convoy and point toward any pedestrian or vehicle which dared to come near the truck.  AP weapons carriers took the lead and the rear of the flatbed.  The convoy proceeded from the site out the back gate through the 546th ADS storage area in Bishigawa to the Kadena flight line where they were put aboard a C-124 on their way to Korea and other Pacific locations.  APs occasionally accompanied the weapons to the destination.

 

 

M3A1 Grease Gun with 30 Round Magazine

.45 Caliber Grease Gun

We had these in the gun room but they were not carried on a routine basis.  It may have been carried during alerts.  We learned to assemble and disassemble this weapon in AP school.  It had few moving parts compared to the Thompson submachine gun, which it replaced in the Air Force inventory.  It fired the same shell as the .45 automatic.  It was terribly inaccurate when fired at anything but short range targets.

 

 

.30 Caliber Machine Gun

Not used in normal sentry operations but stocked in the armory.  This weapon was brought out for use during special alert exercises.  There was at least one fox hole located on the side of a hill a few hundred feet behind the site main gate in which this gun was positioned.

 

 

 

WEAPONS FAMILIARIZATION ORDERS 1957

RETURN TO 7th TDS AIR POLICE HOMEPAGE