When to knock it off?

Combat Edge, Nov, 2002 by Michael A. Abair, II

Accepting the risk when the benefits outweigh the costs sounds simple, but it may not be. Sometimes the benefits are obvious. For example, risking your life to fly into a combat zone and drop a bomb, which will win the war and save thousands of lives, can be an easy decision. Deciding whether you are going to fly an unplanned training scenario without a thorough brief may not be such a no-brainer. What are the real benefits of flying a mission without pre-coordination? What is the added risk of briefing in the air versus on the ground?

All risk management efforts are aimed at keeping us from crossing the line of unnecessary risk. To approach that line, yet not cross it, is not as easy as it sounds in a business like flying jets, which is inherently risky. The task is further complicated as changing mission demands and increased combat capabilities continuously press us to squeeze more and more syllabus and continuation training requirements (e.g., night vision goggles) from the daily flying schedule. As a result, it is easy to get into a mindset that we must maximize training on every mission.

The pressure of increased training demands is making it more important to wisely decide when enough is enough. In many scenarios the aircraft commander or flight lead alone must make the call on whether added risks outweigh potential benefits, making those risks unnecessary. That is exactly what I had to do while I flew to the working area with an F-15 in trail. On this particular sortie, I decided it was time to call it a day and resolved to make up for lost training at another time.

I learned a valuable lesson that day Thinking through the "what ifs" on the ground during the planning and briefing phases will usually result in easier decisions than ones made in the air at 350 knots. Taking the time, you need before you get to step time will also improve the quality of the decisions you make in most situations. I cannot stress this enough. Nonetheless, there will be times -- whether due to short plan/brief times or just unconsidered events -- when we are required to make real-time mission decisions using cockpit ORM. It is at these times that flight leads and aircraft commanders earn their titles. When this does happen, keep the following in mind. I've never met a squadron commander who faulted anyone for making a conservative decision when it made sense at the time. One non-effective training

sortie is not that big a deal. Losing one or more aircraft and/or pilots in training is something we cannot afford.