Risk Management Magazine

I was raised in the country, where the lack of immediate entertainment left most of us kids looking for hobbies. Mine was motorcycles. I started riding at the young age of 5, and by the time I was 8, I’d worked myself up to the Honda XR75.

In the domain of Army Aviation, where precision, adaptability and safety intertwine, a trifecta of principles — conservative response, mature decision-making and effective risk management — guides pilots and aviation professionals through the labyrinth of operations. At its core, the conservative response methodology epitomizes the mantra of "Safety First." It urges pilots to err on the side of caution, particularly when confronted with uncertainty or ambiguity.

Many of the articles in Risk Management magazine tell a story about a less-than-smart decision a co-worker, leader or subordinate made at some point in the author’s career. In this story, however, I am the happy idiot who made the mistake and taught the entire platoon an important lesson.