AFSOC's proactive approach in safety pays off Published March 27, 2014 By 1st Lt. Brionna Ruff Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- Sometimes special operations has to have an "up close and personal" approach to accomplish the mission. It turns out that includes safety. In the command's continuing efforts to prevent aircraft mishaps, Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, directed numerous proactive measures and a hands-on leadership approach to the issue. "The nature of what we do may require certain risks to be taken to get the job done," said Fiel. "Air Commandos must understand the role safety plays in accepting those risks and its impact on successfully accomplishing the mission." Since the increased focus on safety through an Air Force Safety Center August 2012 Organizational Safety Assessment and the continuing efforts by all levels of the command, the number of manned class A and class B mishaps has dramatically decreased. A class A mishap is when an accident results in fatality, total loss of aircraft or damage greater than $2 million; a class B is when the mishap cost exceeds $500,000 but is less than $2 million. "Organizational safety assessments give every Airman, from the newest Airman to the commander, a chance to share their observations about the strengths and vulnerabilities of their wing's safety culture," said Dr. Timothy Strongin, Air Force Safety Center Human Factors deputy director. After the survey, the OSA team visited all of AFSOC's bases and groups and interviewed more than 2,800 Airmen in face-to-face meetings, collecting and summarizing their observations on opportunities to improve safety while continuing AFSOC's missions. To further the impact of the study, Fiel then brought in all AFSOC squadron commanders from around the world so he could talk to them one-on-one to identify any areas of improvement. "This one-on-one session gave Lt. Gen. Fiel the opportunity to personally share his safety vision with his leaders at the tactical level and get true and unfiltered feedback from his people on the ground," said Lt. Col. Michael Englehardt, AFSOC Safety deputy director. Additionally, Fiel directed his headquarters safety teams to conduct worldwide visits to all units in the command. "We realized the only way we could give a proper assessment to the commander was by going to the units, speaking with the Airmen on the ground and getting the right operational sight picture," said Englehardt. When talking about safety, he said it is important to look at all factors necessary to accomplish the mission. As the team went out these visits, they discovered smaller issues which may not be on a commander's scope and could be distractors to the task at hand. For example, the team spoke with deployed Airmen on the flightline and learned many of them developed blisters from their boots after working 12-hour shifts because they weren't getting the opportunity to break in the boots before deployment. The safety team brought this concern to Fiel's attention, and he immediately fixed the issue by creating a policy for Airmen to receive their boots early enough to prepare for deployment. Ultimately this improved their working conditions and helped them stay focused on the mission rather than a painful distraction. "In another visit to the Philippines, the team discovered their number one operational concern was weather tracking and forecasting," said Col. Kevin Gordey, AFSOC Safety director. "We spoke to the meteorologist about their needs and found out it was an easy fix of purchasing some equipment." The safety team was able to relay the concern to Fiel directly and get the equipment purchased immediately. "This was another great example of how the visits help us identify an operational shortfall through the face-to-face interaction, and allowed us to put it on the commander's scope and fix the problem," said Gordey. The safety team received positive feedback from commanders for their proactive training and hands-on approach, leading to more requests for unit visits. "The overall goal of safety is to analyze risks and take precautions to make sure we stay in the fight and enhance the mission," said Englehardt. "AFSOC has shouldered a huge part of the Air Force mission, and has done so with great courage and success," said Strongin. "Our hope is that all commands can follow AFSOC's proactive approach in putting safety at the forefront and doing what's necessary to prevent future mishaps."