Critical days continue to take Airmen

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mike Spaits
  • Air Force Print News
SAN ANTONIO --  The fatal auto accident that claimed the lives of two Airmen in Germany recently raised the Air Force’s death toll to 24 during this year’s “101 Critical Days of Summer.”

While that number is fairly typical for summer fatalities, it is still too high, said Tom Pazell, deputy chief of Air Force Ground Safety.

“This time last year, we had 19 fatalities, and in 2003 we had 21 as of Aug. 3,” Mr. Pazell said.

“Our biggest problem continues to be private motor vehicles,” added Mr. Pazell. “We’re losing too many people on the highways.”

Included in the count this year are four Airmen who died on duty in an aircraft mishap.

This year, 15 of the 24 deaths were a result of either auto or motorcycle accidents.

“Airmen need to take an operational risk management approach to traveling and plan out what they’re doing. Plan for extra travel time and do not travel too much in one day,” Mr. Pazell said.

One additional factor that may be contributing to extreme behavior on the roadways could be influenced by movies, reality television programming and even video games glamorizing high speeds and extravagant stunts, safety officials said.

“As far as motorcycles go, we’ve seen numbers (of accidents) over the last three years that are off the scales,” Mr. Pazell said.

In a bold move to try to curb motorcycle accidents and to identify Airmen at higher risk for mishaps, Pacific Air Forces officials have implemented several programs command wide, including a restrictive motorcycle policy intended to bring safety to the forefront for every rider in the command.

The need for senior leader involvement to ensure the program’s success is critical, said Master Sgt. Todd Parish, superintendent of plans and programs for PACAF’s ground safety office.

“Commanders must make safety a priority to their younger Airmen,” Sergeant Parish said.

The motorcycle policy the command instituted puts heavy emphasis on training and safety awareness as well as limiting those less experienced riders to vehicles more appropriate for their skill level.

For example, the policy restricts new motorcycle riders to driving machines that are under 600 cc, and they are not allowed to carry passengers for one year. This limits the amount of power at the hands of inexperienced riders and gives them time to develop the skills needed to operate safely.

One of the more successful safety programs adopted by PACAF has been the motorcycle mentorship program Sergeant Parish said.

The mentorship program puts experienced riders in a unit with less experienced riders to help them learn the proper skills necessary to ride safely.

“We implemented the mentorship program at Misawa (Air Base, Japan) over a year ago, and they have had no accidents since it’s been in place,” he said. The Air Base had averaged at least two motorcycle accidents per year for the five years prior to implementing the mentorship program.

Besides vehicle safety, Air Force officials are attempting to ingrain safety into its youngest troops early on.

The Airmen at the highest risk in general for mishaps historically have been young men in the 19- to 25-year-old category. This group tends to suffer the most accidents and fatalities, Mr. Pazell said.

One thing that can be done to reduce this group’s risk is constant reminders from the commanders so troops understand the gravity of making poor decisions.

“Commanders need to drive the safety point home constantly,” Mr. Pazell said.

That is exactly what the PACAF Comprehensive Assessment of Risk and Evaluation program does for the more than 17,000 Airmen who have been evaluated this year in the command, Sergeant Parish said.

The Web-based program requires supervisors to interview all Airmen under age 27 to identify lifestyle and behavioral trends that have the probability to increase an individuals exposure to risk. When all the data is gathered, the program then assigns a “score” that correlates to the potential for high-risk exposure and gives supervisors incentive to communicate with and give advice to help reduce risk or eliminate it altogether.

“If I have a troop who sky dives, hang glides and rides motorcycles, that Airman would likely be at a higher risk category than one who spends his weekends playing cards with his children,” Sergeant Parish said.

The CARES program gives supervisors and commanders the tools to help their Airmen make better decisions, Sergeant Parish said.

Supervisors of high-risk category Airmen are reminded monthly to communicate with their high-risk Airmen and provide tools to help get the safety message across. Troops in less critical categories are contacted on a less frequent basis.

Regardless of which category the young men and women fall into, communication is the key to safety.

“We need to continue reaching out to our younger generation and reminding them to act responsibly so they’ll make better decisions and be around for a long time,” Sergeant Parish said.