Col John B. Kelley on Safely Integrating Risk and Readiness

As the U.S. Air Force transforms to meet the demands of the Great Power Competition, risk management is taking on a new level of importance. With complex and dynamic threats, Airmen must be equipped to make risk-informed decisions at every level. Through the Integrating Risk and Readiness campaign, leaders are enhancing readiness across the full scope of training, exercises, and combat operations.

Col John B. Kelley, Director of Safety for Air Mobility Command, shares his insight about how and why risk management needs to be ingrained in every Airman.

Communication is Key

Kelley stressed that effective risk management starts with communication from leadership down to every level of the organization about what risk management actually is. He emphasized that risk management is about understanding the risks Airmen face and knowing there are mitigations to reduce those risks.

“We have an inherently risky operation, and so the communication from commanders to their people needs to stress that zero risk is usually impossible,” he explained. “It’s about identifying risk, recognizing opportunities, and mitigating risks appropriately.”

He hopes to empower Airmen to communicate with leadership and among their team about risks they observe. “If an Airman can go to their leadership and say, ‘This [operation] is more risky than it needs to be’ or ‘This equipment is a hazard,’ and leadership listens and acts, that’s a good sign.”

He also noted the importance of commanders communicating with Airmen about the missions at hand. “It’s not just about their job—it’s about the overall mission. When Airmen understand the broader objective, they make better risk-based decisions that keep people safe and move the mission forward.”

A Mental Toolbox

Kelley explained that effective risk management is not about memorizing processes—it is about critical thinking.

Airmen are trained to assess risk using models like the SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis or the 5M framework (mission, media, machine, management, and manpower). All these models teach a disciplined way to think about risk. “Whatever model you use,” Kelley said, “it’s about having a systematic way to think through what you need to do, what risks are involved, and what mitigations you can apply to be safer and more effective.”

These critical thinking skills form habitual patterns of thought, which ultimately lower the risk of an operation.

Supervisors play a crucial role in fostering this mindset. “They have to be receptive to their Airmen’s critical thinking,” he said. “And beyond that, they need to create ‘sandboxes’—training and exercise opportunities where Airmen can practice these skills in a safe, controlled environment and learn from experiences.”

Kelley believes that developing good judgment comes from experience. “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from exercising judgment in real situations,” he said.

Distractions and Their Impact on Safety

When asked about distractions that affect risk management, Kelley did not hesitate. “The biggest distraction—both for Airmen and for me—is this,” he said, holding up his phone.

“The world is too much with us,” he said, quoting poet William Wordsworth. “There’s never been a more apt phrase for right now because the world invades our time to focus and our time to relax. It’s very difficult to pull away from that.”

Distractions, especially from phones, impact safety in many ways. “We see a continuous trend of distracted driving,” Kelley said. “All it takes is a moment of inattentiveness for something to go wrong.”

Phones can also be a crutch. “If an Airman can always call their supervisor for guidance, they might not build the decision-making skills they need,” he said. “Yes, they should seek help when needed, but they should also be confident in their ability to assess and respond to risk on their own.”

The Future Fight and Risk

Kelley emphasized how risk management plays a central role in Agile Combat Employment (ACE).

“ACE is a set of warfighting techniques designed for large theaters like the Indo-Pacific,” he explained. “Small teams of Airmen create outsized combat effects by being mobile—operating, communicating, and relocating quickly. This [technique] makes it harder for adversaries to target them.”

However, ACE requires decentralized leadership. “Instead of a base with one thousand people and multiple leadership layers, you have a slim team with just the people needed to execute the mission,” he said. “That means decision-making happens at much lower levels—sometimes a captain or a tech sergeant makes the call on whether to continue or relocate.”

This type of mission is why ingraining risk management skills in Airmen is crucial. “In ACE, you may not be able to reach the commander,” Kelley said. “You have to make risk-informed decisions on your own, and those decisions will determine mission success.”

Kelley is continuously impressed by Airmen taking the initiative to enhance safety. At Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI, cargo handlers identified a recurring hand injury hazard when securing equipment. Instead of waiting for a directive, they designed a simple but ingenious solution—adding extended handles to eliminate the pinch risk.

“That innovation spread by word of mouth,” he said. “By the time I visited a unit in Europe, they had already adopted it. That’s risk management in action.”

Although Kelley emphasizes proactive risk mitigation, he also stresses the importance of learning from the past, as many job guides and procedures are built on generations of hard-earned lessons. He knows new risks will always arise, but by staying active in risk management and refining established procedures, we can eliminate unnecessary risks while strengthening operational safety.

“These [technical orders and Department of the Air Force Instructions] aren’t arbitrary—they’re built on decades of experience,” he said. “They’ve been refined by Airmen who figured out what works and what doesn’t.”

With leaders like Kelley shaping AMC’s safety culture, the next generation of Mobility Airmen is developing the judgment and skills necessary to navigate the challenges of modern warfare while keeping themselves and their teams safe.

“When risk management is second nature, we’re a stronger, more lethal force,” Kelley stated.