COMMENTARY>>The ‘264 days of other’

By Lt. Col. Carleton H. Hirschel
19th Mission Support Group

Congratulations, you’ve made it through the “101 Days of Summer” without incident. But now what? Many self-help groups take things “one day at a time,” they use time frames to help break down ideas like safety into something more manageable.

The “264 Days of Other” have just begun and will continue until summer starts again. If we borrow a page from those self-help groups and practice safety “one day at a time” during the “264 Days of Other,” I guarantee you’ll stand a much higher chance of being successful.

Incorporating safety into your everyday life puts the focus exactly where it needs to be. Commanders and supervisors stress safety in the workplace and at home. There’s always a safety briefing at our Commander’s Calls or before a holiday weekend.

The reality though is that each and every one of us needs to practice safety every day. During the “264 Days of Other,” I’d like all of us to pay attention to the following three areas: personal, mental and physical safety.

Simply put, if we make a mistake or take unnecessary risks that result in our death, our mental and physical safety have already been compromised. This makes personal safety the most important of the three. So the question then becomes, how do we practice personal safety? A simple approach is to just follow the basic rules we all learned in kindergarten (i.e., follow regulations and use common sense): Look both ways before you cross the street (be aware of hazards in your environment at home, at work, and at play); Don’t play with fire (avoid dangerous activities, including abusing alcohol and drinking/driving); No running in the hallways (observe the speed limit and don’t drive too fast for road conditions); Obey your parents (follow the rules); and play nice with others (be a good Wingman). Your personal safety is taken care of. What else do you need to do to remain safe?

Mental safety has become very important in recent years. Suicide rates across the Air Force have been up over the past couple of years. Annualized rates as of August 7, 2009, were 24 suicides (12.4 per 100,000). The EOY numbers for suicides in CY08 was 40 suicides (12.4 per 100,000).

Suicides over the past 10 year have averaged 35 (9.9 per 100,000) per year. If trends continue this year we could potentially lose another 16 individuals before next January. This is not acceptable. Our goal for attempted and completed suicides across the Air Force must always be zero, as one loss of life to suicide is one too many. Commanders, supervisors, and friends all need to be involved; however, the most important person in this equation is you! In order to maintain your mental safety, you need to make sure our relationships with friends and acquaintances are healthy, maintain an optimistic outlook, believe in something higher than ourselves, be a member of or participate in a club or community, and seek assistance with problems as early as possible. These coping mechanisms are shown to reduce your chance of committing suicide.

Lastly, we all need to take steps to ensure our physical safety. As the Air Force has become more expeditionary, the focus on fitness has continued to increase. General Jumper established the new Fit-to-Fight program in the summer of 2003. Since then, we’ve seen the focus on fitness increase tenfold as the Air Force has come to realize that being in shape can be the difference between life and death. General Jumper set a new and higher expectation for fitness when he said, “I want to make very clear that my focus is not on passing a fitness test once a year. More important, we are changing the culture of the Air Force. This is about our preparedness to deploy and fight. It’s about warriors. It is about instilling an expectation that makes fitness a daily standard -- an essential part of your service. Commanders, supervisors, and front-line leaders must lead the way -- through unit physical training, personal involvement and, most important, by example.” This emphasis on fitness has only grown under General Schwartz, including PT testing twice a year. If you’re not working out regularly, get with the program. Your physical safety depends on our fitness.

We all need to make sure we practice personal safety, mental safety and physical safety “one day at a time” -- each of our lives depends on it.

I’m looking forward to seeing all of you next Memorial Day so together we can successfully end the “264 Days of Other” and kick off the start of another winning “101 Days of Summer.”