Joint Base Charleston
Vol. 2, No. 10
Patriot Team Charleston – One Family, One Mission, One Fight!
Friday, March 11, 2011
JB CHS annual motorcycle safety event - riding season is here By Airman 1st Class Jared Trimarchi Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs All Joint Base Charleston's military members who drive motorcycles must attend this year's annual motorcycle safety briefing Mar. 25 at 8:30 a.m. at the Joint Base Charleston Air Base theater. After the hour-long brief, riders will have the opportunity to participate in a motorcycle mentoring ride throughout the Lowcountry ending at Marrington Plantation on JB CHS Weapons Station. "Although the safety event is not mandatory for civilians and dependents who ride motorcycles, the motorcycle safety brief is highly recommended," said Stuart Wyatt, 628th Air Base Wing chief of ground safety. "No matter how often you ride your bike, you'll still learn something." The motorcycle safety brief will satisfy JB CHS military rider's annual safety requirement. Approximately 200 bikers participated in last year's safety briefing, and this year the safety office expects at least double that number, said Master Sgt. Robert Carman, 628 ABW Traffic Safety manager. "This year's safety event is going to be more in-depth and longer than last year's," Sergeant Carman said. "We are going to the North Charleston Coliseum to experience a motorcycle rodeo by the North Charleston Police Department motor patrol. The motor patrol will discuss motorcycle safety tips and South Carolina's motorcycle laws. Then we'll ride to the Navy's outdoor recreation facility, Short Stay, where we will eat and have a safety briefing from a comedian to put a lighter note on a serious subject."
The topics to be discussed are protective equipment, avoiding accidents, bike maintenance and suspension setup. "Motorcycles are set up to fit 150 pound riders when you first purchase your bike," Mr. Wyatt said. "If you weigh more than 150 pounds, your bike's suspension is set up wrong which can cause an accident. We want to make sure you know how to adjust your suspension to fit your size and your style of riding." Motorcyclists are encouraged to read their motorcycle owner's manuals, or MOMs, in order to become familiar with a bike’s operation and to avoid a crash, he said. "Motorcyclists account for 1 to 2 percent of all military drivers and account for 40 to 50 percent of non-combat related deaths," Mr. Wyatt said. In 2009, there were more Marines killed riding motorcycles than in combat according to safety records, he said. "That's a huge concern for the military," Mr. Wyatt said. "Doing annual safety briefings, ensuring the proper training is conducted and safety events like this have lowered the military death rate from military motorcycle accidents. Safety is the number one concern in the motorcycle world and that's why we take it so seriously." Members of the Air Force Safety Center and the Green Knights motorcycle club will be supporting the event and providing safety briefs. There will be a bike show for riders to show off their motorcycles. The four categories of bikes will be sport, standard, touring and custom. A plaque will be presented to the 'best of show' bike. Before the ride, a base chaplain will say a 'blessing of
U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Marie Brown
One hundred thirty-four bikes sit in the parking lot of the Joint Base Charleston - Air Base theater as members of JB CHS receive an annual mandatory briefing, kicking off Air Mobility Command’s Spring Safety Focus, March 19, 2010. More than 200 participants from Joint Base Charleston showed up to compete in a "best in show" contest and had the opportunity to participate in a motorcycle mentoring ride to the Navy Recreation Facility, Short Stay, after the meeting.
the bikes' to ensure a safe trip, Sergeant Carman said. "The reason for the ride is to make learning fun," he said. "Yes, we can throw all motorcycle riders in a room and show them a power point presentation on safety, but how many people will actually want to attend? Even though it is mandatory for some, we want to make it as entertaining as possible and full of information. We want to encourage riders to be safe."
Airman returns from USMC Staff NCO Academy By 2nd Lt. Susan Carlson Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs If you’re looking for a challenge, Master Sgt. Steve Hart, 628th Security Forces first sergeant, can fill you in on a tough one: the U.S. Marine Corps Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academy Advanced Course held at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. While this is not the typical or most popular route for Air Force Senior NCOs when it comes to professional military education, it is an option, and a demanding one at that. “I was on the alternate list to our [Air Force] SNCO Academy. Once you’re on the list for the SNCO Academy you can apply to any other service academy, and the one that intrigued me the most was the Marines,” said Sergeant Hart. “The two reports I saw said ‘physically demanding’.” Sure enough, once Sergeant Hart put in his application to the Air Force Personnel Center he received a phone call with one main question. “They called me and said ‘what is your PT
started, I was the only sisscore?’ and I said 100, so they ter service individual in said okay, and they let me go,” attendance.” Sergeant Hart recalls. The academics of the Bright and early Monday school are completely morning on the first day of class Sergeant Hart along with more Marine oriented, said than 90 other Marine SNCOs Sergeant Hart. In order to grasp a basic understandtook the Marine physical fitness ing of what the instructest, which is based on a scale of tors were referring to, he 300 and consists of a three mile had to do a lot of reading run, as many pull-ups you can during his off time, as do and two minutes of sit-ups. much of the tactics, terms Then the real work began; Courtesy photo and reports were Marine nearly nine weeks of constant Master Sgt. Steve Hart academic, leadership and fit- 628th Security Forces first sergeant Corps based and completely foreign to him. ness evaluation with the ultiThankfully, the instructors were more mate goal of graduating individuals “with the knowledge and skills necessary to assume than willing to help without any hesitation, leadership roles of greater responsibility,” even after hours, Sergeant Hart added, as he according to the USMC Staff NCO had little background on Marine Corps administration. Unlike Air Force academics, Academy Advanced Course website. “I thought it was definitely beneficial to students were constantly being evaluated on see how another service conducts, not only their leadership abilities and the personal their senior NCO academy, but themselves skills each individual brought to the group. as well,” Sergeant Hart said. “Of the 92 that However, despite the differences,
Base Brief Notes 628 Medical closure
Don’t Forget! ... Set your clocks ahead one hour Saturday night
INSIDE
The 628th Medical Group will close March 22 at 11:30 a.m. and will re-open March 23 for normal business hours. Please plan accordingly.
National Prayer Breakfast Join your fellow Airmen for a morning of good food and fellowship at the Charleston Club, March 15, at 8 a.m. for the National Prayer Breakfast. The Key Note speaker is Air Force Brig. Gen. David Cyr, deputy chief of chaplains. Tickets are $6 and available through the Chapel and the First Sergeants.
RESERVE FORCE Reserves challenging but rewarding Page 2
HOMECOMING 16 AS reunite with families Page 5
Sergeant Hart was able to gain great information from the USMC Academy, both in the classroom and out, that he will use to better himself as an Airman and a leader. The Advanced Course teaches graduates how to advise subordinates in stress management, the performance evaluation system, financial planning and more. In addition, the course instructs the graduates in warfighting skills, applying the fundamentals of offensive and defensive tactics according to the website. While this may not directly relate to Air Force capabilities, Sergeant Hart was still able to obtain valuable lessons. The group conducted a field exercise where they spent a week writing orders and planning an engagement and during the next week, simulated the scenario of attack. “I gained a lot from that. I was able to observe my peers and how they acted and reacted – it was a great opportunity to see what the Marine infantry guys can do and actually understand what our sister services are capable of,” Sergeant Hart said. See NCO Academy, Page 10
Change of Command set for Col. Wood Mark your calendar as Col. John M. Wood will relinquish command of the 437th Airlift Wing to Col. Erik. W. Hansen, March 29 at 10:30 a.m. at Bldg. 578 on JB CHS – Air Base.
TRAVEL CARD Operational Readiness Inspection Countdown:
CSA training schedule Page 6
38 Weeks
Joint Base Charleston Facebook Now Live! - Follow Discussions, Connect With Your Base!