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Risk management a key player in reaching 7 Summits for USAF team: Part 3

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  • By Tech. Sgt. Kathee Mullins
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Risk management (RM) plays a huge part in being successful in the challenge, whether flying over the mountain tops or just standing on the highest peak in the world.
Capt. Andrew Ackles, a TH-1 instructor pilot assigned to the 58th Special Operations Wing here, but stationed at Fort Rucker, Ala., was part of a 6 man team of Air Force Airmen that challenged themselves to climb that highest peak to honor fallen comrades and wounded warriors, and to celebrate great American values. They challenged themselves not only to climb Mount Everest, but to do it safely using their RM skills.

"Risk management, and really the safety mindset I've learned from the Air Force helped me on this trip and every other mountain I've climbed," said Ackles. "Mountaineering can be a very dangerous activity, however, with proper RM skills many of the inherent risks can be mitigated and the climb can be safely completed."
"Prior to every flight I've had as an Air Force pilot, I've completed a Risk Management worksheet to evaluate the risks to be taken on the flight and then mitigate those risks. The team did much the same by conducting daily risk assessments before each day of climbing," added Ackles.

If the dangers are inherent, RM plays a vital role in making Airmen safe. The Air Force spends a lot of time and energy incorporating RM when training Airmen. These skills can be used in real life situations and increase the value of their lives, dreams and ambitions through planning, being prepared and safe decision-making practices.
Those planning and preparation practices were used during Ackles recent Mount Everest challenge from beginning to end.

"One of the more dangerous portions of Mount Everest are a stretch of steep glacier called the Khumbu Ice Fall, said Ackles. This area is dangerous because it is prone to ice fall and avalanches with huge 100' tall ice seracs leaning precariously over the route that topple over on a daily basis. This was a major risk we assessed even before arriving in Nepal so we chose a multi-step approach. The first assessment was to completely avoid the risk as long as possible. This was accomplished by gaining initial acclimatization climbing Mount Lobuche, a safer nearby 20,000 feet mountain. Once this was completed we needed to actually climb through the Khumbu Ice Fall. We knew the risk of ice fall and avalanche is generally greatest when the sun hits the glacier and begins to melt. We minimized the risk by electing to climb during the coldest part of the day very early in the morning, generally beginning our push up through the Ice Fall around 3 a.m. Additionally we climbed quickly, minimizing breaks to the absolute minimum while in the fall, only resting in the one area deemed safe from avalanches. Each of these risk mitigation factors when used together drastically reducing the overall danger of negotiating the Khumbu Ice Fall."

While planning and being prepared is an important part of RM and mountain climbing alike, it is the decision-making process that can make the biggest difference in the outcomes of any challenge. The USAF 7 Summits team knows firsthand that making good decisions can be a limb, life or death situation.

"It was extremely difficult to see Colin (friend and fellow team member, Capt. Merrin) make the decision to turn around, said Ackles." "However, I knew immediately that it was the right decision. Colin had devoted two months of his life and the majority of his personal savings to this climb. He had been just as strong as any of us up until the final three days of the climb when he started to feel the effects of an upper respiratory infection."
"He knew he had moved too slowly up the mountain and although he was aware he could physically move further up the mountain, he also knew that he was very near to the end of his energy stores and would likely not be able to get back down on his own and injury or death would be a potential outcome. When he told me he was turning around and asked me to take a few items to the top for him, I told him he was making the right decision and that we had a whole world of mountains just as sweet as Everest to climb when we got back home."

Even though tough decisions like Merrin had to make might not be how they saw the preferred outcome should be, Ackles knew it was the right decision to make to keep the team safe and to get that U.S. Air Force flag to the top without any failures.

So now with the 7 Summits challenge complete, Ackles planning to go back to work, put a little weight back on and support the team in their new direction. The team's original goal was to raise money and awareness for military charities while using their Air Force RM skills and demonstrate physical endurance and fitness while climbing the seven summits. Now that the initial phase is complete they are going to use the mountains to combat mental health issues Airmen face when returning from battle face or just on a daily basis.

"The goal will be to get wounded warriors, airmen suffering from PTSD, depression and other stresses into the fresh air of the mountains, working together to accomplish something difficult and experience the reward of getting to the top of a mountain," said Ackles.

This new challenge is aimed to teach airmen other avenues to deal with the pressures of military life, combat and day to day issues and to give them a sense of accomplishment mountain climbing can bring. The first climb of this phase with the 7 Summits team will be at Mount Rainier in Washington is scheduled for this July.

Ackles is unsure if he will get to attend the July climb but says there are a lot of mountains in this world he'd love to look down from and will always put RM first before the summit.