Photo By Brian Godette | Gary Ballew, U.S. Army Reserve Command Safety, deputy director, cuts the event cake as...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Author and writer Eleanor Everet once said “for safety is not a gadget, but a state of mind.” Influencing sound safety decisions is critical to operational readiness in the military and at home.
Soldiers and civilians with the U.S. Army Reserve Command and the U.S. Army Forces Command participated in an educational awareness day of safety, hosted by the USARC Safety directorate at FORSCOM/USARC headquarters July 14, 2015.
“Our main goal is summer safety. We are trying to get people aware of motorcycle safety, hunter safety, getting them ready for the fall hunting season, boating safety and neighborhood safety,” said Master Sgt. David Minta, USARC Safety.
The full day of safety awareness, deemed Passport to Safety, incorporated several safety aspects in an interactive, hands on, table to table experience where the attendees received “passport stamps” for each table visited, with a chance to win a prize at the end.
“We are bringing the total 360 aspect of safety to everyday life, not only to the Soldiers, but to their families,” Minta said.
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ken Olesinki and Minta from the USARC Safety directorate brainstormed how they could organize and effectively spread the safety message to military and family community at FORSCOM/USARC headquarters. They garnered the assistance of the directorates within headquarters, and then branched out to reach outside agencies.
In all, Safety Day included support from FORSCOM and USARC, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Chaplain's office, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, City of Fayetteville Police Department, Fort Bragg Provost Marshal, Defense Health Agency, Fort Family, Public Affairs, and the Family Readiness Group.
“This is the first year we have incorporated outside agencies to be a part of our safety day, and it turned out to be our biggest event to date,” said Paulette Thomas, USARC Safety administrator.
While the theme of the day centered around fun, the critical meaning of safety was not passed upon throughout the course of the day by many.
“To this date, the U.S. Army Reserve Command has experienced 21 fatalities. These were traditional reservist who were not in a duty status, just carrying on with their known course of events,” said James Balaocki, USARC command executive officer. “These are 21 families, 21 mothers or fathers, wives, husbands, or girlfriends or boyfriends, that will not have that person care for them next Christmas.”
“We see those take backs all the time, when people are taking a little more risk than they need to,” Balocki said.
Helping each other stay focused on each others safety could help mitigate such tragic events according to Balocki and others in the Safety community.
“We get so wrapped up in our day to day job, some of us never really consider safety, so it's important to get that safety aspect in the mindset of not only our Soldiers, but our families, so we don't have impractical work ethics, and we can promote a healthier environment all around,” Minta said.
The day reminded many of the importance of safety, with key educational facts, and an assortment of fun gadgets at the different tables, but as eluded to by the author Eleanor Everet, safety rest in the state of mind of the individual. Soldiers are not exempt from possible safety related incidents.
“This is where you can be a battle buddy, and it doesn't mean that you have to be in battle,” Balocki said.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.15.2015 13:48 |
| Story ID: | 170100 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 310 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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