by Tech. Sgt. James Stewart
Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs
8/27/2014 - JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --
Military aviation is an inherently dangerous undertaking --
in every aspect, there's a chance something can go wrong, be broken, or worse,
someone can get hurt.
The U.S. Air Force dedicates entire career tracks to
researching, measuring, evaluating and, most importantly, preventing safety
mishaps. Airmen in these careers live and breathe aviation safety, immersing
themselves so completely they provide a huge amount of expertise to those
attending the Asia-Pacific Aviation Safety Subject-Matter Expert Exchange
hosted by Pacific Air Forces Aug. 25 to 27.
"The whole purpose of this exchange is to bring
everyone together, giving us the opportunity to share what we know about
aviation safety," said Maj. Cherie Clark, PACAF flight safety officer.
That opportunity includes safety experts from PACAF, as well
as 13 other nations.
"Safe aviation throughout the Asia-Pacific region is a
top priority for all of us," Clark said. "Cooperation is a big part
of what we do in PACAF, and it's only natural we collectively consider how to
work together to safely accomplish the mission."
Risk management is a major focus for the attendees this
year. Using the RM process, PACAF has already achieved a 30-percent reduction
in aviation safety mishaps this year.
"We work side-by-sidy with our nation's allies and
partners in the Asia-Pacific region," Clark said. "We all have unique
methods of working to minimize flight safety risks, and the conference provides
another avenue to give us access into each other's minds and creates a venue
for us to examine how we can improve our own risk management processes."
At its core, risk management helps recognize, gauge and
prioritize risks with an aim to avoid threats altogether or lessen the chances
of them occurring.
"Risk management is a reflection of who we are as
American Airmen," said Maj. Gen Kurt Neubauer, Air Force Safety Center
chief of safety and conference attendee. "It's a direct result of every
leader's effort to instill our Airmen with the thoughts, words, actions and
habits to get the mission done -- safely and effectively."
Expert exchanges are a core principle to the U.S. military's
role in building partnerships with other nations. These engagements come in
many forms, and PACAF's safety exchange is a shining example of BP's strategic
benefits.
"It's a tremendous opportunity for American Airmen to
meet with their counterparts to exchange ideas, understand common safety
challenges, share lessons learned and discuss proven techniques and procedures,"
Neubauer said. "That will go a long way to improve aviation safety
programs and foster better interoperability throughout the region."
Clark couldn't agree more.
"Safety is an organic part of the mission in the
Pacific. We all share a responsibility to deter aggression and promote
stability," she said. "Keeping safety in the fore-front of our minds
is how we increase aviation safety awareness and ultimately improve our ability
to work together for the common good in the theater."
Nine nations who participated in last year's expert exchange
have returned and approval was granted to continue idea exchanges in 2015.
"Repeat engagement is the key to building reliance with
our partners," Clark said. "As a team, as a theater, we achieve
greater risk management by sharing our ideas. We owe it to our Airmen to focus
on safety. Continually engaging with our partners is a great way to discover
new methods to protect our Airmen from risks that come with aviation and make
sure they are capable to get the job done."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment