Air Force chief of safety shares message on critical days ahead

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Malia Jenkins
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  With the summer just around the corner, Maj. Gen. Greg Feest, the Air Force chief of safety, asked Kadena Airmen to help him help them.

Between 2002 and 2011, the Air Force experienced 218 fatalities during the Critical Days of Summer, which typically falls between Memorial Day and Labor Day. As the weather heats up in Okinawa, the general's top priority is to ensure Airmen are prepared to prevent accidents and fatalities during the most dangerous time of year.

With Kadena's tropical climate and beautiful beaches, Airmen typically get a head start on the CDS compared to most temperate climate Air Force bases.

"This environment [has] more water mishaps than we have in most areas (Air Force-wide)," the general explained.

One initiative of the Air Force's top safety officer is called the Airman-to-Airman (A2A) Safety Advisory Council, which aims to decrease safety mishaps. For videos featuring the A2A council members' experiences, click here.

Feest said the program encourages Airmen to share mistakes with their peers so other Airmen can learn from their experiences.

"I ask the Airmen to look at these stories and help me communicate them," Feest said. "I'm looking at better ways to communicate to get the word out because safety is everybody's job. It's not just (the role of) commanders and supervisors, it (reaches) from the oldest to the youngest Airman. We all need to be Wingman and take care of each other."

Water safety isn't the only area of focus. "The majority of ground mishaps and fatalities are the result of motor vehicle accidents," said the Air Force chief of safety. "(That is why) four of the 10 Critical Days of Summer modules we're doing this year deal with how we ride motorcycles and operate our automobiles."

Feest said his ground division, human factors division and analysis division are looking for better ways to prevent motorcycle mishaps since 80 percent of the mishaps are caused by human error.

"The goal is zero mishaps, zero fatalities. The day that we get there I'll be happy," said Feest, who presented two 33rd Rescue Squadron pilots the Air Force Aircrew of Distinction Award for their combat actions in Afghanistan. "We all understand that our operations are risky. What we do every day is risky, (but) it's our job as Airmen to manage that risk and to make sure that supervisors and commanders at all levels understand the risks they are accepting every day when we send Airmen out to do their jobs. Remember, safety...it's personal."