Combat Edge articles from November 2004

Combat Edge archives from November 2004

Accent on safety.(AIR COMBAT COMMAND)
November 1, 2004... The Secretary of Defense has set a goal to reduce preventable mishaps by 50 percent. We are making great strides toward fulfilling that goal by strengthening existing safety programs and implementing several innovative flight, ground, and...

Fightin' tired: lengthy missions can change crewmembers' sleep schedules by about 12 hours for each flight, and fatigue is becoming a huge factor ...(Cover Story)
November 1, 2004... Being deployed to a beautiful tropical island in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM might not seem like a hardship TDY, but when you are flying every third day with an average sortie duration of 15-17 hours, you don't get...

Black line flying.(safety matters)
November 1, 2004... Ever catch yourself thinking or--even worse--verbalizing. "Gee, this flight's going really smooth so far" and then in the very next instant discover that the "so far" had just abruptly ended? Pilots are usually well-educated, highly analytical...

Afghan adventure the conclusion.
November 1, 2004... Editor's Note: This is the final part of a three-part series. When we left off last month the author and his party just received word they would have to stay on the mountain in hostile territory at least another 6 hours. Did I mention that...

Aircrew safety: award of distinction.(MONTHLY AWARD WINNERS)(Dax Hayes, Julie Mulloy)
November 1, 2004... Capt Hayes and Capt Mulloy briefed as SKEETER 01 flight, a two-ship of A-10s flying an out-and-back Close Air Support (CAS) sortie from Pope AFB, N.C. to support USAF Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) training at Ft. Benning, Ga. During the...

Crew chief safety: award of distinction.(MONTHLY AWARD WINNERS)(Chad Alexander, Adam Liller)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... On 17 June, 2004 SrA Chad Alexander and Amn Adam Liller of the 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron were preparing to recover the B-2A "Spirit of Georgia" returning from a normal training sortie. As they marshaled the aircraft to its final...

Flight line safety: award of distinction.(MONTHLY AWARD WINNERS)(Michael D. Holloway)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... While performing duties required to launch a $74M B-52 bomber on a local training sortie, SSgt Holloway and A1C Beames prevented the loss of life and a valuable combat aircraft. SSgt Holloway and A1C Beames were assigned as crew chiefs to...

Pilot safety: award of distinction.(MONTHLY AWARD WINNERS)(William H. McKibban)
November 1, 2004... On 7 June 2004, Capt Hank McKibban displayed superb airmanship and flying ability in handling an in-flight F-16 engine emergency. Capt McKibban (call sign Lord 1) led a 4-ship of F-16s from Cannon Air Force Base on a defensive counter air...

Weapons safety: award of distinction.(MONTHLY AWARD WINNERS)(John S. Teed)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... On 26 May 2004 at the Strategic Integrated Maintenance Facility (SIMF), after a successful missile transfer of an Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) from the Weapons Maintenance Bay to the engine bay, SrA John S. Teed and his team prepared...

Unit safety: award of distinction.(MONTHLY AWARD WINNERS)(27th Aeromedical Dental Operations Sqdn)
November 1, 2004... The ADOS team--Flight Med (Flt Med), Bioenvironmental Engineering (BE), Public Health (PH), HAWC, Dental, Medical Readiness & Aerospace Physiology (AP) enhanced the culture of safety for the 27th Fighter Wing and the local community. Flt Med...

ACC safety salutes superior performance.(air combat command)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Maj Gentry W. Boswell, Mission Lead Capt Brian D. Golden, Acft Cmdr Capt Ryan K. Carignan, Offensive Sys Op 1Lt Crystal D. Powers, Pilot Maj Joseph T. Reidy, Ops Supv Capt Jaime I. Hernandez, SOF Capt Jeffrey E....

How do you fall from a tree stand?(hunting accident lessons learned)
November 1, 2004... Finding the answer to that question took me 34 years. Somewhere, it's written that one of every three hunting mishaps involves tree stands, and I'm among that 33 percent. Here's my story. I was back from a short underway period to prepare for...

No incident is too small.(safety)
November 1, 2004... It started out as a cool fall day in England. It was a typical day for an ammo troop in the conventional maintenance shop, processing 20mm ammunition, chaff and flares, and of course, building up BDU-33 practice bombs. I was in the office area...

101 critical days of summer recap.(accidents prevention)
November 1, 2004... By acting responsibly, and partaking in better Personal Risk Management practices, personnel in Air Combat Command helped reduce non-fatal mishaps by 11 percent and 16 percent in fatal Class "A" mishaps during this year's "101 Critical Days of...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2004... From e-mail: "Why did you use minefield clearance pictures for that reprint story on the Bagram Safety office? First, I thought it was going to be a story on land mine safety. It was just safety guys reading out of their continuity book....

Mishap statistics scoreboard.
November 1, 2004... Aircraft Notes September yielded 2 Class As in ACC. Both were drones: one QF-4 and one Predator. Now for the good news... ACC's Class A rate for FY04 was 1.34 per 100,000 flying hours. Statistically, FY04 was the safest year in ACC...