Fall Safety Campaign message

  • Published
  • By Maj. Gen. Wendell Griffin
  • Air Force Safety Center
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  As summer comes to an end, the first-ever joint service Fall Safety Campaign will be led this year by the Air Force and will run from 2 September until the end of November. The Fall Safety Campaign will be the bridge from where the 101 Critical Days of Summer Campaign leaves off and where the Winter Safety Campaign begins. 

Statistically, fatal vehicle mishaps (automobile and motorcycle) are the leading cause of death to our warriors from all branches of service. Historically, we have focused much of our effort on the 101 Critical Days of Summer. Unfortunately, one portion of the year that we have not placed enough attention on is the period of Sep - Nov. 

As we reviewed our numbers over the past three years for these three months, we noticed a significant increase in vehicle related fatalities. During the last three years in this time frame, we have lost 41 people, which is a 29 percent higher rate than during the 15 week period of the 101 Critical Days of Summer. Our target audience will continue to be our young warriors under 26 years of age who are at the highest risk. 

We need to ensure we place the same support and emphasis on our Fall Safety Campaign that we did on the 101 Critical Days of Summer Campaign. Your leadership is critical and we solicit your continued support in the following: 

* Leading efforts within your MAJCOM and at your installations and supporting the overall campaign (assist in sharing best practices, provide command specific target areas)
* Evaluating and trending applicable mishaps
* Providing support/resources to aid installation efforts
* Providing after action reports to the Air Force Safety Center within 30 days after the end of the campaign 

The Safety Center will be creating a Fall Safety Campaign website for the campaign, with links to the other DoD services' benchmarks. We encourage your installations to embrace this first-ever joint service campaign and take advantage of this exciting opportunity to further reduce preventable mishaps while gaining valuable cross feed information from our sister services. 

The AFSC website has a wealth of information to assist your Fall Safety Campaign efforts. This is an opportunity to lead the way for this campaign, focus on reducing mishaps/fatalities, and take our programs to the next level. Every mishap prevented preserves combat capability. My staff and I stand ready to assist in any manner possible 24/7.