DAFI 31-118: Security Forces Standards and Procedures

DAFI 31-118, Security Forces Standards and Procedures, is the Department of the Air Force instruction that sets unit-level standards for how Security Forces report for duty, conduct guardmount, wear the uniform, carry equipment, and organize the career field. The version in force is the August 18, 2020 base publication as changed by Guidance Memorandum DAFGM 2026-01, issued January 15, 2026. The two documents must be read together until a consolidated rewrite is published.¹

The instruction applies to all Department of the Air Force civilian employees, uniformed members of the Regular Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, and the United States Space Force. It implements Air Force Policy Directive 31-1, Integrated Defense, and draws statutory authority from 10 U.S.C. § 9013.¹

What DAFI 31-118 Covers

The instruction addresses the administrative and personnel side of Security Forces work: reporting for duty, guardmount procedures, uniforms and personal appearance, equipment standards, hiring of civilian defenders, and the governance processes that organize, train, and equip the enterprise. Chapter 4 lays out primary duty uniforms, utility uniforms, maternity and bike patrol uniforms, headgear, the Security Forces shield, force protection badges, nameplates, and grooming requirements.¹

What the instruction does not cover matters just as much. Tactical procedures such as patrols, perimeter establishment, incident response, and searches were deliberately removed and consolidated into AFI 31-115, Law & Order Operations. Arming authorizations and use-of-force policy sit in DAFI 31-117, not here.² And as of January 2026, guidance specific to GS-0083 civilian police officers no longer lives in DAFI 31-118 either.

Which Version Is Current

The 2020 revision superseded a March 5, 2014 edition and absorbed AFI 31-122 (dated July 31, 2015). It remained unchanged until DAFGM 2026-01 was issued on January 15, 2026. The memorandum takes precedence over any inconsistent content in the base instruction and expires one year from issuance or upon publication of a new consolidated edition, whichever comes first.¹

As of mid-2026, no consolidated rewrite has been published. A user of the instruction needs both documents in hand.

What the 2026 Memorandum Changed

DAFGM 2026-01 made three categories of change.

Civilian Police Guidance Moved to DAFI 31-122

All guidance specific to the GS-0083 Police Series was declared obsolete within DAFI 31-118. The new authoritative source for hiring, medical evaluation, physical testing, and discipline standards for civilian police officers is DAFI 31-122, Civilian Police Officer Program. DAFI 31-118 retains the broader framework applicable to all Security Forces personnel and to civilian defenders outside the GS-0083 series.¹

Rebuilt Enterprise Governance

Sections 3.4 through 3.9 of the base instruction were deleted and replaced. The new structure creates two governing bodies and three standing working groups, all reporting upward to the A4 Enterprise Council.

Administrative Corrections

The memorandum also corrected email addresses for the Joint Lessons Learned Information System (JLLIS).¹

Security Forces Enterprise Governance

The Security Forces Executive Board (SFEB) is the senior governing body. It is composed of colonel-level and chief master sergeant-level leaders from major commands and the Air Force Security Forces Center, chaired by AF/A4S, and convenes at least twice a year. The SFEB decides strategic issues, validates capability gaps, and aligns programs with senior Air Force priorities. Its chair holds final decision authority and veto power.¹

The Security Forces Integrated Leadership Team (SFILT) meets monthly by teleconference. It is the working forum for senior leaders to exchange perspectives, refine performance metrics for SFEB approval, and track implementation of strategic priorities. Issues the SFILT cannot resolve escalate to the SFEB.¹

Three standing working groups feed recommendations into the SFEB and SFILT:

The Integrated Base Defense Security Systems Working Group (IBDSSWG) handles security systems and technology integration.
The Requirements Working Group (RWG) identifies and prioritizes capability gaps across organizing, training, and equipping to inform future requirements.
The Security Forces Training Working Group (SFTWG) determines the where, when, and how of training across the enterprise and develops courses of action for SFEB approval.

All governance bodies and working groups operate under charters held by the AF/A4SR Governance Branch, which must review them annually.¹

Defender Spark

The 2026 memorandum formally codified Defender Spark as the innovation hub for the Security Forces enterprise, housed within the Air Force Security Forces Center’s Concepts and Innovation Branch. The program was active before the memorandum; the DAFGM gave it a formal place in the governance structure.¹

Defender Spark manages two innovation channels. “Targeted Innovation” covers top-down efforts aimed at known capability gaps. “Channeled Innovation” covers bottom-up ideas from individual airmen and units solving day-to-day problems. Units and major commands are required to notify Defender Spark of innovation engagements and industry sponsorships, ideally before signing memorandums of understanding or contracts, so the enterprise can avoid duplication and enable collaboration.³

Civilian Defender Standards

DAFI 31-118 sets out both a traditional hiring model and an expedited “fast-track” model for civilian defenders. Applicants undergo pre-placement checks, mandatory drug testing, medical assessments, a Physical Agility Test (PAT), and interview-based job compatibility assessments. GS-0083 civilian police specifics have moved to DAFI 31-122, but the broader civilian defender provisions, including uniform and appearance standards in Chapter 4, remain in DAFI 31-118.¹

AFGE Council 214 Memorandum of Agreement

When the 2020 instruction took effect, its impact on civilian defenders was negotiated with AFGE Council 214, the union representing civilian employees at Air Force Materiel Command installations. The two sides signed a Memorandum of Agreement on September 10, 2020, which supersedes the earlier agreement tied to AFI 31-122.⁴

Key provisions of the MOA:

Incumbent employees receive a minimum of 90 days of physical conditioning on duty time before taking the PAT, with up to three hours of duty time per week for conditioning.
An employee who fails the PAT twice may take an alternative Physical Readiness Job Task Scenario Appeals Test consisting of three practical scenarios: a gate detail, a tactical response, and a chase-and-restrain exercise.
Civilian rank insignia established under the old AFI 31-122 is grandfathered for four years.
Employees retain access to all remedies under the Master Labor Agreement or federal labor law for unresolved disputes.

Where DAFI 31-118 Sits in the Security Forces Publication Family

DAFI 31-118 is the central standards-and-procedures document. Three sister publications handle what it does not:

AFI 31-115, Law & Order Operations, holds the tactical and operational procedures (patrols, incident response, searches, perimeter operations) that were removed from DAFI 31-118.
DAFI 31-117, Arming and the Use of Force, governs who may be armed, use-of-force escalation and de-escalation, deadly and less-lethal force, and the temporary or permanent withdrawal of arming authority.²
DAFI 31-122, Civilian Police Officer Program, is the authoritative source for GS-0083 civilian police-specific guidance, including hiring, medical qualifications, and discipline.

For any question that touches tactics, arming, or civilian police personnel actions, DAFI 31-118 will point elsewhere.

1
U.S. Air Force. DAFI 31-118, Security Forces Standards and Procedures
2
U.S. Air Force. DAFI 31-117, Arming and the Use of Force
3
AFIMSC. AFSFC Concepts and Innovation Branch – Defender Spark
4
AFGE Council 214. AFI 31-118, Security Forces Standards and Procedures