Risk Management Magazine

Risk management, safety and constant planning are a way of life for the military, but so are chaos, deadlines, demands and stress. When leaders forget to follow basic principles, people could get hurt or killed.

Everything was going fine until my cellphone rang. We had just had an accident on the flight line. One of our pilots partially degloved his finger as he was stepping down from the cockpit of a UH-60 and the medics were taking him to the hospital.

In certain situations, such as time-sensitive operations, there may be pressure to complete missions swiftly. This can result in shortcuts or compromises in safety procedures for the sake of mission accomplishment.