RETIRED MASTER SGT. KEITH A. COLEMAN
“Crap, he saw me,” I said to myself as I pedaled my bicycle with everything I had. I knew I had the advantage of a good lead, but I wasn’t as fast or experienced as the kid chasing me. He was nearly in junior high and I was only in fourth grade. When I snuck a glance behind me, I could tell he was gaining.
I was heading away from my house, which was bad, so I decided to turn around and try to get past him. I was now going faster than I had ever ridden on flat ground. As I started to turn, I realized I needed more room than I expected.
“Watch out for the fence,” I thought, and that’s exactly what I did. I stared at that fence and for some reason couldn’t turn my bike enough. Then WHAM! The kid chasing me never bothered to stop to kick my butt. He just laughed and casually rode away.
It would be years later before I realized why I couldn’t make that turn that day. It’s called target fixation, and I learned about it when I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s (MSF) Basic RiderCourse. You see, motorcycles go where you point them. If you point your eyes to the ditch or the rock in the road, that’s exactly where your front tire is going. This was just one of many realizations that saved me from unpleasant experiences in my motorcycle-riding life, and I will always be appreciative to the leader that made me go to that course.
So what does any of this have to do with cutting corners, which is the title of this article? Well, we can look at it in riding terms and in terms of Army leadership.
As an Army leader, would you take your squad/team/section outside the wire without first conducting pre-combat inspections/checks? Would you jump out of an aircraft without a jumpmaster’s parachute inspection? Would you take your Mine Resistant Ambush Protection vehicle on a patrol without performing preventive maintenance checks and services beforehand? Would you let a drunken Soldier drive his or her car? For any professional NCO, the obvious answer to all of these questions is a resounding no! You would never knowingly cut corners because the results could be catastrophic.
Yet, every day throughout the active Army, Army Reserve and National Guard, there are leaders who ignore the high-risk behavior some Soldiers exhibit in their motorcycle riding. Some may justify it by saying these Soldiers are just blowing off steam and will eventually be scared straight on their own. I’ve also heard, “What they do on their time is their business.” The one that really gets me is when leaders say, “I don’t ride, so I don’t know what to do about it.”
How about cutting corners as a rider? Do you intentionally take your bike over oil slicks on the road? Do you ever play chicken with a semi? How about finding that open road and kicking up the speedometer to triple digits? (Did you expect all of these questions to have easy answers?) How you ride is ultimately your decision, and the thrill of riding is why most of us do it. But that doesn’t mean you have to ride ignorantly. If you haven’t taken an MSF course, you are missing out on skills that can save your hide. Don’t cut corners with your safety.
We lose enough Soldiers to combat. It’s a sad reality, but all of us that put on the uniform know death might be the cost of the choice we made to serve. When we become leaders, we take on the added responsibility of watching after others that know less than we do. If we are doing our jobs correctly, we don’t make excuses for their reckless behavior. When we cut corners by only dealing with the easy problems, we fail our Soldiers. Get involved. You might just save a life.
Did You Know?
Every military installation has a safety office that will help riders get free Motorcycle Safety Foundation training. Every state has a safety office at the National Guard headquarters that will assist a rider in getting free training. Every Army Reserve command has a safety office that will assist you in getting the training for free. Many states and commands have even authorized you to be placed on duty orders while in the training. Made up of motorcycle riders, the MSF offers loads of links and information to help Soldiers and leaders through its website at www.msf-usa.org. Check it out today!