Risk Management Magazine

Whether it’s a summer vacation or upcoming permanent change of station (PCS) move, Soldiers, their families and other individuals soon will be setting out on road trips. Statistics indicate that more than 100 million Americans will take a family vacation this year.

“Two to fly. Systems, you good in the back?” As a junior aviator, statements like this were commonplace in my cockpit but never resulted in an incident or mishap. As a unit trainer, I taught this technique without reprisal or correction from my seniors. As a student at the instructor pilot (IP) course, however, I said it for the last time. Here’s what happened.

We’d been in country six months and had three more to go. Direct-fire actions had been limited, and the biggest threat we faced was indirect fire and accidents. Up to that point, our ANP mentoring could be described as two steps forward, one step back; but all in all, we were making progress.