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  • Intramural Sports - All Fun and Games?

    Do you like to play sports? Do you enjoy the fun, competitive, adventurous thrill you get when you gather a group of your friends and play a sport of choice? Do you always remember to properly plan and prepare for the multitude of injuries and problems an athletic encounter can bring? If you said

  • Avoid Fatigue Risks While Behind the Wheel

    The Big SqueezeYou've had a long, tough work week. The weather is perfect (finally), it's nearly quitting time Friday afternoon, and you can't wait to get to your weekend destination. You packed the night before and the family is waiting for you to pick them up so you can hit the road ASAP. The goal

  • What are "Human Factors?"

    How did that tool get in the aircraft intake? Why was that tire flat? How did that bomb fall off the forklift? How did you crash your car in broad daylight? Why did you land short? How could you be so human? According to Air Force Safety Center analysis, human factors are the cause of 60-80 percent

  • A Lesson in Spatial Disorientation

    There I was, descending from 4,000 to 2,000 feet above the ocean's surface in 30 degrees of left bank, turning from the 15 DME arc to final on the HI-ILS 28 penetration into Misawa AB, Japan. I was also letting the jet slow from 300 to 250 KIAS as I made the turn. This was my first instrument check

  • The Four C's

    I had recently been upgraded to aircraft commander during my first assignment. I was still the newest aircraft commander in the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. It was a great feeling to know leadership now trusted me to maneuver a UH-1N Huey helicopter and command a crew of

  • "Oh Man, Am I Beat!"

    While attending a Flight Safety Officer class, I looked around at all the "young guns" attending with me, and my first thought was, "These folks aren't old enough to be fighting wars." Then it hit me: I was the oldest guy in the room. After that initial shock, and then being made class leader, I was

  • Extreme Heat!

    On a recent deployment to Southwest Asia, aircrews dealt with a stifling heat wave as they attempted to complete their tasks. In some areas, the temperature climbed above 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity added to the suffocating heat, and launching sorties became particularly difficult. In a C-130

  • A Hike to the Top

    Never having lived north of my current home in Fayetteville, N.C., my idea of severe weather was surviving triple-digit heat in Del Rio, Texas and Okinawa, Japan. Consequently, the cold-weather experience I had about five years ago caught me a tad ill-prepared. Believe it or not, my cold-weather

  • 101 Critical Days of Being a Wingman

    It's not too hard to decide on a focus for the upcoming 101 Critical Days of Summer campaign. One only need look at last year's dismal statistics. No sense talking about keeping germs off your barbecued chicken when so many people are dying on the roads! The Air Force suffered 19 fatalities during

  • Ego versus the "E-Word"

    There is always a bit of rivalry between fighter pilots.  As an F-15C driver, I would joke and laugh with my Eagle buddies when we heard of yet another of "those F-16 guys" who had to declare emergency fuel and gum up the return to base flow following a large force exercise at Nellis AFB, Nev. With

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