Risk Management Magazine

Rush hour was a chaotic mess. Instead of a steady flow, vehicles were clumping in groups and coming to a stop in unpredictable patterns. Eventually, the cause became apparent. Up ahead, dump trucks and other heavy machinery, as well as groups of road construction crews, were working on the highway.

Recently, I accepted a position as the post safety specialist. Just before starting, however, I made one of the most common on-the-job mistakes — rushing to complete a task.

On an October night in 2024, a flight of two AH-64D Apaches returned to base in Erbil, Iraq, after a routine training mission. The crews were cleared for a straight-in approach to their parking pads, a maneuver they had performed countless times, day and night. At this stage of their deployment, the approach was as familiar as a daily commute home from work — simple and routine.