Risk Management Magazine

While I was attending the Aviation Maintenance Technician Course as a part of my Warrant Officer Basic Course at Fort Eustis, Virginia, my wife and 2-year-old daughter came for a visit. This weekend allowed us to spend some quality family time together, but it was also memorable for a very ugly and scary event that happened on the roadway.

For service members, the first few weeks of reintegration after a long combat tour are crucial. We have to discard basic actions of doing even the smallest tasks that kept us safe during a time of danger.

I was on the top of the world. I’d just been promoted to master sergeant, and my colonel, a man I really admired, pinned on my stripes and made me officer in charge of the transportation section. My commanding officer said he had faith that I could handle it.