Risk Management Magazine

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.

So, there I was with my head sticking out of the top of a Stryker. I was new to the unit and had never commanded a Stryker before — let alone in the middle of winter with ice covering everything. What could go wrong?

Looking back, this incident is still vivid in my mind. Some have told me it’s just the cost of doing business. This "business" cost us a Class C mishap. Although no one was hurt and the aircraft was up and flying in just a few days, I couldn’t help but ask myself, "What was I thinking?"