Safety Flight Plan for 2005

Combat Edge, Oct, 2004 by Creid K. Johnson

The Goal is 50 percent. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has charged the US Military Services with reducing accident rates by 50 percent across the board by October 2005. Starting this month we are 525,600 minutes away from that deadline, and time is slowly ticking away--we simply can't waste a minute of time spreading the "safety" word.

Within Air Combat Command our aim is zero--zero mishaps across the board for flight, ground, and weapons safety disciplines. The debate is whether zero is achievable or not, and you can continue that discussion at your next safety meeting. In the meantime, FY04 end-of-year stats show our FY04 Safety Flight Plan of leadership, training, and accountability has made a difference. The FY04 Class A flight mishap rate is nearly half of last year's and ground Class A mishaps have decreased by 30 percent. The command has gone 3 years without a weapons Class A mishap. Further, we've done this without resorting to banning or prohibiting activities; instead, we've chosen to rely on a program which stresses personal responsibility for one's actions and treating all personnel as professionals and adults.

Building on the success of FY04, the Safety Flight Plan for FY05 includes leadership, training, and advocacy. Safety is and remains a leadership issue. From the commander on down to the front-line supervisor, solid safety leadership is mandatory--leaders set the "safety" example. Safety is also a training issue. The Safety staffs provide the foundation training, but it's your responsibility to continue the training, even when "they" are not looking. Safety is a 24/7, on-/off-duty way of life. Finally, we've added advocacy as one of our tenants to the safety flight plan. When you leave the front gate, don't leave your safety training behind--take it with you and share lessons learned with your coworkers and even family members at home. Become a safety advocate to increase awareness across the command and our Air Force. Help make safety proactive.

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There's a war to fight, and a job out there that needs to be done and done safely. The clock's ticking; we have 1 year to reduce our accident rate, that's only 12 months ... time waits for no one, safety is required from everyone. Make Safety your Combat Edge!

Colonel Creid K. Johnson, ACC Director of Safety