Rumsfeld: Cut safety mishap rates in half Published June 2, 2003 By Master Sgt. Scott Elliott Air Force Print News WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld challenged the military services to cut the number of mishaps by 50 percent in the next two years.“World-class organizations do not tolerate preventable accidents,” Rumsfeld wrote in a May 19 memorandum to the heads of military departments and defense agencies.The secretary sent the memo in response to recent hikes in Department of Defense mishap rates.According to DOD safety officials, 82 military members died in aviation accidents in fiscal 2002, an increase of 17 from the previous year. In addition, the number of aircraft destroyed in mishaps rose from 46 in fiscal 2001 to 63 in 2002. Those figures do not include the 182 deaths due to the 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon.Rumsfeld’s directive applies to all DOD agencies and includes active duty, Reserve and Guard military members, both on- and off-duty, and all civilian employees. The mishap rate reduction goal applies to all operations of aircraft, weapons, ordnance, motor vehicles, maritime assets and installations.According to Air Force safety officials, the Air Force has not suffered a space, weapons or explosives Class A mishap since late 2001. Mishaps are defined as Class A if they result in death or permanent total disability, destruction of a DOD aircraft or cause $1 million or more in damage.“Our biggest fatality issues are off-duty motor vehicle accidents,” said Col. Jeff Blanchette, vice commander of the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.Despite ongoing safety awareness programs, such as the “101 Critical Days of Summer,” airmen are just as susceptible to driving while impaired, while overly fatigued, with a lack of proficiency or while not paying enough attention to the task at hand as other Americans, Blanchette said.“We are a cross-section of society,” he said. “We have significant societal issues that must be affected.”The Air Force already has several initiatives for alleviating aircraft mishaps, and officials are also looking into training and human behavior modification programs to address the off-duty motor-vehicle accident concern. Blanchette said shortages in manpower and funding are limiting factors to diminishing both.According to DOD safety officials, Rumsfeld’s initiative includes developing a real-time mishap decision support system, applying commercial technologies on high-risk equipment and finding ways to implement “best practices” from both industry and other government agencies into DOD activities.“These goals are achievable and will directly increase our operational readiness,” Rumsfeld wrote. “We owe no less to the men and women who defend our nation.”