Risk Management Magazine

Every Soldier's death or injury in training is a tragic loss to the unit and families. We must act at every level of leadership to prevent these needless losses.

Snow and ice — while not an uncommon forecast to receive depending on the season and operational environment, it contributes an additional layer of planning and tasks for aviators, maintainers and operations personnel. While deployed, this forecast is taken heavily into consideration, as it is a requirement to maintain mission-capable aircraft.

Soldiers do a pretty good job of integrating risk management into their professional decision-making process. Rarely do you catch us blatantly disregarding written procedures. Rotations to the National Training Center and Joint Readiness Training Center aren’t spur-of-the-moment decisions. They incorporate much planning and forethought at all levels. Off duty, however, we tend to live on the edge. We might do something like fill our hot lawnmowers with gasoline without personal protective equipment or gloves, giving little thought to the risk. Recently, I did an excellent job of demonstrating personal and professional differences from a safety standpoint.