CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 4 BRIAN D. BARRY
Air Traffic Services Command
Fort Rucker, Alabama
It was a Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and I’d traveled from Fort Drum, New York, to my grandmother’s house in Massachusetts to visit family. I planned to return to Fort Drum on Sunday because my unit was deploying to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, the following day. I’d made this drive many times, so it would be an easy trip — or so I thought.
When Sunday arrived, I planned to leave at noon, which would normally get me back to Fort Drum by 7 p.m. Being a good aviator, I completed the preflight of my vehicle and filled up with gas and snacks. As for my weather brief, it looked good outside. Besides, I’d be protected from the elements inside my car, so there was no need to get additional weather information, right? That was my first mistake.
Once on the highway, I encountered holiday traffic. I’d forgotten that the Sunday during Thanksgiving weekend is the most traveled day of the year. No big deal, I thought. The drive might take me a little longer than expected, but I’d still have plenty of time to make it home. Plus, just past the New York border, I could take backroads, which would help me make up some travel time. When I reached the backroads, I thought I was home-free. What I didn’t consider was that those roads would take me through the Adirondacks, which is where I encountered bad weather.
If you were ever stationed at Fort Drum, you likely experienced lake-effect snow. This is caused when very cold air flows over the relatively warmer water of a large lake. The intense evaporation from the lake’s surface under these conditions forms convective clouds that cannot contain all of this water, causing some of it to fall back to the surface as snow. These snow showers often form into bands or lines. I had not planned for this, but I wasn’t worried because I grew up driving in the snow. That was my second mistake — overconfidence.
The snow was awful, and drifts 3 feet across the road were common. I lowered my speed to 25 mph on the 55-mph road. By now, it was 5 p.m., the sun was setting and I was on rural roads with limited streetlights in blizzard conditions. Eventually, I couldn’t even see the road and began following a snowplow. After about an hour, though, the snowplow driver seemed to give up and pulled off the road.
I was now alone. The snow was falling so hard that my headlights were only good for about 10 feet. I lowered my speed to 10 mph as I scanned the area for any houses where I could stop and wait out the snow, but there was nothing around. I began to wonder if I was lost. I considered pulling off on the side of the road and waiting for the snow to let up before I continued, but it was freezing outside and no one even knew where I was. To make matters worse, I had told my wife not to expect a call from me for a few days since I was deploying in the morning, and I did not put a strip map on my leave form. No one would know where to look for my frozen body. That was my third mistake.
As I entered my eighth hour of driving, I was getting scared. It was dark, my driving skills were being challenged and nobody would be looking for me till the following morning at the earliest. Fortunately, I made it back to the interstate, got better driving conditions and I made it home in just less than 10 hours. I then called my wife and let her know I was home.
Lessons learned
I got lucky. I didn’t consider the weather conditions or tell anyone my driving plan. I was overconfident in my driving skills and took risks that could have been catastrophic. This mission was a wakeup call to always plan for the unexpected. I now make more effort in my driving plans and ensure someone has my route so they’ll know where to start looking for me if I don’t show up.
FYI
Will you be traveling this holiday season? If so, check out the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center’s Travel Risk Planning System, commonly known as TRiPS. This online interactive planning tool assists private motor vehicle operators in assessing risk and providing recommended controls to mitigate that risk for upcoming driving trips they plan to take outside of the local area. The tool was also designed to facilitate conversations between leaders and their subordinates regarding their travel plans to reduce the number of private motor vehicle injuries and fatalities.
Through TRiPS, users respond to a series of standard questions based on their vehicle type and other travel data. The system then calculates risk levels and presents the user with actual reports from mishaps that occurred under similar circumstances, followed by possible mitigation strategies. A final risk calculation is performed according to selected mitigation measures, and the user is presented with supplemental materials, including driving directions and a map to his or her destination. The assessment and a partially completed leave form are then submitted to the user’s supervisor for approval.
Although TRiPS is no longer an Army-level requirement, it remains a useful mishap prevention tool that promotes engagement between leaders and subordinates regarding driving safety. This interaction is vital to saving lives and preventing needless mishaps. Access TRiPS at https://trips.safety.army.mil/.