Risk Management Magazine

So how far are you going to let this go? The answer to this question should never be a spur-of-the-moment decision. The answer should be “to my en-route decision point.”

It only takes one incident to shake up an entire command. The mishap below, which occurred several years ago in my old battalion, sure got the attention of leaders at every level. Commanders, command sergeants major and first sergeants were all scrambling to identify the root cause of the mishap and restore morale in the unit. I wrote this article with the hope that it will help commands emphasize the importance of two basic tasks — conducting preventive maintenance checks and services (PMCS) and developing driver training programs at the unit level.

In my younger years, I had all the qualities of an effective warfighter — strength, tenacity, energy, speed and fearlessness. Those qualities, however, didn’t necessarily translate well to safe motorcycle riding.