The Mobility Forum The Mobility Forum

It was 12:45 p.m. on an unusually warm Sunday in fall 2013. My mother, my sister, and I had just finished brunch after returning home from church when the sky began to darken ominously. I looked out a window and saw dirt swirling up in the open farm field in a way I had never seen. We all had the same thought, which I said aloud—“There’s a tornado!”

Using the grill for a family barbecue is a favorite American summer pastime. Most people do not think about safety when grilling, but a grill fire can start easily and spread quickly. According to the National Fire Protection Association, gas and charcoal grills are involved in about 10,200 home fires per year. These outdoor cooking safety tips will help keep your home and family safe this summer while enjoying the sun!

You are working on routine vehicle maintenance, and suddenly a hose bursts, spraying a hot substance your way. This chore quickly turns into a medical situation. Maybe you are channeling your inner Gordon Ramsay and a missed flip splashes sizzling oil on you. Maybe a fun night around the campfire goes awry. No matter the cause, burns can be painful and proper medical care is essential.

The physical fitness assessment for the U.S. Air Force was updated in 2022 after close to 20 years. Endurance is tested with the Air Force’s Basic Military Training (BMT) physical fitness test (PFT), which measures cardiorespiratory fitness, physical strengths, and abilities. In order to graduate from boot camp and then continue to the advanced individual training, you are required to pass the BMT PFT.

Executive Order (EO) 13859, “Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (AI),” states that it is the policy of the U.S. Government to “sustain and enhance the scientific, technological, and economic leadership position of the United States in AI research and development and deployment through a coordinated Federal Government strategy.” Signed by the President of the United States in 2019, this strategy is guided by five principles, one of which declares that “the United States must drive technological breakthroughs in AI across the Federal Government, industry, and academia in order to promote scientific discovery, economic competitiveness, and national security.”

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are a popular source of summer entertainment. Whether you like mountains, prairies, dunes, or beaches, you can take an ATV there. If you do not own an ATV, they are often available for rent at venues that offer off-road riding opportunities. What better way to soak up the sun and fresh air with family or friends than on an ATV?

10,000 Hours 312th Airlift Squadron, Travis AFB, CA SMSgt James V. Grant 7,500 Hours 182 AW, Peoria, IL Lt Col Jeffrey S. Teuscher 6,500 Hours…

Risk Management is a foundational tenant of a sound safety culture. Preemptively identifying hazards allows personnel to assess the inherent risks within a mission and effectively develop mitigation strategies to address these potential hurdles. Additionally, this process highlights hazards to the appropriate risk acceptance authority, permitting leadership to provide supplemental guidance while also determining if the identified risk is acceptable.

Capt Courtney Smith, 60th Air Mobility Wing Judge Advocate Chief of Administrative Separations, speaks with Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets during a Project Tuskegee, Aviation Inspiration Mentorship event at Travis Air Force Base (AFB), CA, April 28, 2023.

For Air Mobility Command (AMC), 2021 was a monumental year that began and ended with the ongoing COVID-19 effort, resulting in the delivery of more than 50,000 vaccines to some of the hardest hit countries. In addition, 80 missions transported 340 patients in biocontainment systems for the well-being of all involved. In March, one of the first major operations was Octave Quartz, the repositioning of forces in United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) and the movement of roughly 440,000 pounds of cargo in an effort to promote peace in Somalia. From April to July, AMC took the heavy lift of the retrograde in Afghanistan head-on, moving thousands of personnel and 16,000 pieces of equipment from the area. The “go to zero” equaled approximately 900 C-17s of cargo. Then in August, the gray tails of AMC’s mighty fleet were seen on every mainstream news media outlet across the globe during the 17-day record-breaking airlift of 124,000 refugees in a non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO) at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) in Kabul, Afghanistan called Operation Allies Refuge.

During a recent Safety Investigation Board (SIB), the Military Flight Operations Quality Assurance (MFOQA) Flight Data Analyst was asked, “What could MFOQA analysis provide to assist the investigation of a mishap?”

Is safety a risk management program? Although many of you may have thought the opposite was true, the answer is “Yes,” according to an excellent presentation given by Eric Brenkert at the Air Force Academy earlier this year.