Beware life threatening ABC's of 'institutionalization'

  • Published
  • By Capt. John Kochanski
  • 447th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron
SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  About 12 years ago as I walked to work on the flightline, my co-worker said to me, "Hey somebody just got ejected out of the cockpit while performing maintenance on an F-4, right over there." 

A technician in the front seat was ejected from the cockpit and fatally wounded, while another, who was in the rear seat at the time, was severely burned and injured from the rocket motor blast. Later we learned that the accident resulted from an Airman skipping a basic step in the technical order.

The accident resulted from a classic case of "institutionalism." Simply put, institutionalism is complacency on a large scale. It is a common form of an "institution" (such as the Air Force, or in this case, practically the whole F-4 community) accepting something out of the norm as an everyday occurrence. A deviation becomes the norm.

How does this happen? Let's take a look at what I call the "ABC's of institutionalism." Foremost in my mind, is attitude ("A" in our equation). Attitude is a complex mental state involving beliefs, feelings, values and dispositions to act in certain ways. For example, "He had the attitude that work was fun." Attitude is everything ... always. Attitude influences our behavior ("B" in our equation).

Princeton University defines behavior as "a manner of acting or controlling yourself." In the case of the ejection accident, the technicians' behaviors were not only influenced by their attitudes (feelings, values and beliefs) but also by an external environment of Complacency ("C" in our equation). Taken to extreme, complacency can even drive peer pressure -- pressure to get a job done in a certain time or in a certain manner.

So how can we overcome peer pressure, supervisory pressure, and even institutional pressure? The answer is self discipline. Self discipline can be achieved in many ways, and though you may not be overtly aware of it, the Air Force gives us opportunities to exercise this "muscle" every day.

Ever wondered why there are so many stupid, little nit-picky rules? The answer is simple. There are so many rules because it is necessary to train ourselves and each other to practice self discipline and to remain focused on a much bigger picture.

Does it actually make any difference to the mission whether we tuck in our physical training shirts? Does it matter that we walk out of the gym wearing the boots we came in with? How about the uniform standards or customs and courtesies? Do any of these practices actually help defeat the enemy? 

The answer is a resounding, "Yes!" When we're focused and disciplined enough to ensure compliance with Air Force instructions, we are guaranteeing that when it comes time to perform our wartime tasks that we are disciplined enough to perform those tasks correctly and when it counts. 

I never really knew what "institutionalism" meant until that day the technician was ejected from the F-4 cockpit, and neither did his family. The impact is not just to one's self, but to families, the Air Force and the whole country who suffers losses from simple mistakes. Any one of us can be the one to stop a chain of events and prevent an accident, but it takes maturity, self discipline and courage. Look no further than the Air Force core values, which inspire us to live and breathe in an atmosphere of compliance and professionalism that may save somebody's life some day.

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