Quickstoppers - Path Paved with Courage and Excellence

by TSGT STEWART MITCHELL
319 ABW/SEW

11/19/2014 - Winter 2014 -- No doubt, the role of the base Safety Office is a hugely important one, but one facet of the safety program can have truly devastating consequences if its concepts are not followed to a T: Weapons Safety. So what is a day in the life of a Weapons Safety Manager like? Simply put, it is knowing the people who perform the explosives related mission and their programs and procedures inside and out, and it is being the eyes, ears, and voice of the program. Living a day in the life of a Weapons Safety Manager may sound like an imposing responsibility, but I assure you it is an exciting and interesting world!

The Weapons Safety program covers three disciplines: explosives safety, missile safety, and nuclear surety. If you came up in any career field that deals with these disciplines, safety has been drilled into your psyche from day one. The job begins, follows through, and ends with safety at the forefront because to do otherwise at any step could be catastrophic. So, while the concepts of weapons safety may be taught from day one, the Weapons Safety Manager's job is ensuring those concepts are practiced in everyone's daily processes as well.

Weapons Safety, as it is known today, was born in the years following World War I when large surpluses of ammunition were stockpiled in depots around the United States. During this time, a series of rather large-scale mishaps highlighted the need for more stringent storage practices and controls. The final catalyst that spawned the modern Weapons Safety program occurred in July 1926 at Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Storage Depot, New Jersey, when a lightning storm ignited a fire that raged through the depot and surrounding area for nearly a week. The resulting explosions ultimately leveled every structure in the depot, heavily damaged neighboring Picatinny Arsenal and surrounding communities, and cost the Navy an estimated 84 million dollars. More tragically however, the mishap claimed the lives of 21 people and seriously injured 53 others.

The role of Weapons Safety has been constantly evolving ever since, continually striving to eliminate the unintentional initiation of explosives and minimize their damaging effects in the event of a mishap. A devastating reminder of the importance of this took place in 1965 at Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, when explosives safety principles were ignored and a fuze malfunction detonated a bomb loaded on an A-1E aircraft. The explosion immediately propagated across a flight line overloaded with munitions, planes, and support equipment, causing 133 casualties and destroying 14 aircraft.

As you can see, the Weapons Safety Manager's path has been paved with the courage and excellence of those before us--and with their devastation and loss, as well. We must know the who, what, when, where, and how of everything that happens on the installation with the explosives, missile, and nuclear surety disciplines. It's about doing the right thing the first time, every time, or it may be the last time!