Safety is a Combat Skill Published July 12, 2010 By Lieutenant Colonel Eric Halverson 374th Operations Support Squadron YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan -- Yokota has recently completed a series of operational readiness exercises and inspections. There is a good reason the Air Force demands that we as Airmen accomplish these events. Exercises and inspections prepare us for our wartime mission. The reason we are all here, is to answer our nation's call at a moment's notice. We must all be prepared to answer that call 24/7/365. To that end, each Airman is a key element that provides a critical part to an important piece of our Air Force mission. The Air Force has given each of us a skill set, provided through hours of training and evaluation. There is a key element that goes hand-in-hand with that invaluable skill set that each of you bring to the fight. That key element is safety. Safety is a combat skill. Think about it: when you are tasked to accomplish your assigned mission, safety is a foundational part of that execution. Clearly, the Air Force believes it has equipped all of us with a number of tools and resources to evaluate those aspects of our mission and to make sure that we do them safely. Whether you call it operational risk management, safety training, or a variety of other things, they are all in place to make us think about the risk factors associated with our individual mission. Clearly, what we do as Airmen day in and day out is inherently dangerous and we can never fully mitigate some of those dangers. To that end, every Airman has to evaluate the task at hand, evaluate the possible risks, and ensure that all reasonable efforts are made to mitigate those dangers where possible. While it may not be possible to mitigate those dangers, there is an expectation of increased awareness of those dangers. Some of you will say, "So what, I do that every day in my job?" That is true, but every Airman needs to take it to the next level, beyond the "job" and into every aspect of his or her lives. If you are going to the beach, taking a trip in the car or maybe downtown on a Friday night, you need to exercise your own safety assessment (exercise the what- if's) and plan accordingly. Where we do this in each of our jobs with evaluations and inspections, you need to do it in your personal life. The Air Force has spent tens of thousands of dollars and man-hours training you for a mission. Unlike the civilian sector, each of you are truly irreplaceable; if we lose a Staff Sergeant with 7 years of experience, I can't just get another one from somewhere outside the Air Force. It will take another 7 years of experience to truly replace that Airman. The Air Force is getting smaller, making each Airman that much more valuable. We have to execute our Air Force mission with greater efficiency, requiring focus and dedication from every single Airman. That takes each of you exercising good judgment and smart safety practices. Look out for one another, be a good wingman, force your wingman to consider safety in all aspects of their lives. When it comes time to execute our combat mission, it starts with executing it safely and efficiently. Safety starts with individual responsibility. Safety is a fundamental combat skill.