Risk Management Magazine

Although many of our licensed drivers were considered experienced, they were not very skilled at operating tactical vehicles in snowy conditions for long distances through mountainous terrain. We discovered how treacherous that could be during our first convoy to Ethan Allen.

It was December at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and our unit was preparing for a field training exercise. Leadership was monitoring the weather because winters can be pretty crazy at Fort Sill. Temperatures were expected to hover around the freezing mark during the daytime and drop to minus 17 F at night. Whatever the weather, we were determined to be prepared.

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.