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AAF holds "Safety Day"

  • Published
  • By Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Vladimir Potapenko
  • 438th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
KABUL, Afghanistan --  The Afghan Air Force in conjunction with the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing held an "Afghanistan Safety Day" at the Afghan Air Force Base in Kabul Feb. 13 in hopes of further propelling the notion of proper safety protocol inside of the AAF.

"We did this to remind personnel of the mistakes made in the past, so we do not repeat them in the future," said U.S. Air Force Maj. J.R. Boddy, the lead safety advisor with the 438th AEW.

"With better safety, we are saving lives and available resources," said Major Boddy.

Resources that are hard to come by and would be better off not diverted due to damaged AAF equipment and aircraft, he said. "Their assets and facilities are limited, so if anything is damaged or lost it becomes a big player in how the force is able to operate."

The "Safety Day" is part of an ongoing initiative to change the culture of laissez-faire relations between personnel and safety found throughout the AAF.

"Safety does not seem to be in their culture, but that is where the advisors come in to explain how safety benefits their force and even benefits their lives outside of the military," said Major Boddy stressing the importance of NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan support in the restructuring of the Afghan mindset.

"Our goal is to have a full safety force at each air force unit and developing and implementing regulations that do not drive Afghans too far from their unique way of thinking but still promote effective safety concepts," he added.

So far, there has been progress, said AAF Brig. Gen. Said Salamen Shaw, the AAF chief of safety. "We have gone from a unit of four to 65 men."

And the Afghan Air Force, believes Major Boddy, is receptive to notion of safety even if it is new to them, for as AAF Lt. Col. Darmagon, the deputy chief of safety for the AAF, explains, "wherever we have safety, we have security."