- Armorer
An armorer or armourer (see
spelling differences ) was in former times a smith who specialized in manufacturing and repairing arms andarmour . In modern usage, the word may also designate a member of a modernmilitary orpolice force who maintains and repairssmall arms , andweapons systems, with some duties resembling those of a civiliangunsmith .With the renewed interest in traditional armour and weaponry in modern times, the profession also involves suppliers for historical and reenactment societies, period costumes, and reproduction armor, swords, and related equipment used in film, stage, and recreational activities.
RAF
Within the British
Royal Air Force (RAF), armourers are considered the most specialized of any trade. After spending an initial phase of generic training atRAF Halton with the majority other non commissioned trainees they transfer toDCAE Cosford for their trade specific training. Once qualified they can find themselves employed on a wide variety of tasks including non trade specific jobs such as the flight line servicing of aircraft. As well as sweeping bomb dumps, painting boxes,various other shit jobs, prepping, maintaining and loading aircraft bombs, missiles and aircraft assisted escape systems they are also responsible for the maintenance of explosive release systems and small arms within station armouries like the L85A2 (SA80), 9mm Browning pistol and the GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun). Armourers can also volunteer to specialize in Explosive Ordnance Disposal and are often employed on the front line of conflicts clearing airfields form any unexploded ordnance (UXO). They can also work alongside their army equivalents theAmmunition Technician or ATO helping to deal withImprovised explosive devices . The founder of the RAFLord Trenchard held the armourer in high esteem and was quoted saying "The armourer, without him there is no need for an airforce".Irish Army
Irish Army armourers are called Artificers. They are part of theOrdnance Corps and are trained to maintain all types of weapon. Individual soldiers are responsible for daily cleaning etc, but the artificer (known as "tiffies") maintains mechanisms, sights etc. Weapons which do not pass the Artificers inspection are withdrawn from service. Artificer ranks are the same as most branches of the army; Private, Corporal etc.Chemical Warfare
In a response to the disastrous unloading of the "Idomeneus" ship in January 1943 - where a wharf labourer died and many other were badly gassed by mustard gas leaking from a drum - the Royal Australian Air Force created a specialist unit, the "Chemical Warfare Armourers". Their role was to handle, maintain and move upwards of 1,000,000 chemical weapons imported into Australia to counter a possible Japanese threat [http://www.mustardgas.org - Chemical Warfare in Australia]
United States Military
The title "armorer" was formerly part of several
Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) designations across the services. Even where the title has disappeared, those with duties similar to those of earlier armorers are often referred to as such. See [http://www.higgins.org www.higgins.org] for further information on armorers and their craft.Obsolete "Armorer" MOS classifications
*Army of the United States (
United States Army in WWII to the end of the war in Vietnam)
**511 Armorer
*United States Army Air Forces (WWII-era successor to theUnited States Army Air Corps , precursor to theUnited States Air Force ).
**911 Airplane Armorer
**612 Airplane Armorer-GunnerNotable armourers
*
John R. Jewitt , an Englishman who wrote a memoir about his years as a captive of theNootka people on thePacific Northwest Coast in 1802-1805
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