Safety plays huge part in Army’s overall transformation
Brig. Gen. William H. Forrester
Director of Army Safety
We’re losing Soldiers to needless accidents throughout our Army. I believe in every instance, there is an individual who could make a difference and change the conditions leading to an accident. How do we know when to intercede and achieve success in protecting our force? How will we know in what manner to interject our commitment to never leave a fallen comrade? The answer is through transformation.
Transformation. It is a word you’ve heard parlayed back and forth over the last four years. Have you ever given any thought to what it means outside of changes in our formations? As a professional Soldier charged with leading our nation’s sons and daughters, it’s worth taking a minute to discuss how we, as leaders, can best embrace transformation.
Transformation is a triad involving leaders, forces and institutions and is paramount to achieving the Army Vision. As you well know, our Army is executing the largest reorganization of our forces since World War II. The goal is to provide combat commanders a campaign-quality Army with joint and expeditionary capabilities while maintaining the quality of the all-volunteer force.
I propose to you that transformation is far more than an equipment change. I further contend that transformation is more than buying bigger, smarter and faster tools and toys for Soldiers to employ to defeat a threat. While the changes in our forces and institutions are significant in scope and breadth, they pale when compared to the positive impacts leaders can achieve.
We are realigning our forces across our formations to place key elements of our combat power in the hands of brigade combat team commanders. While this gives us a more adaptable and flexible force, how can leaders likewise transform to increase their flexibility and effectiveness? How can we use the culture changes at the heart of transformation to get us there? The truth is, while the changes in our cultural thinking have us on solid footing for a successful future, we still have miles to go.
In our not too distant past, safety was considered the sixth paragraph of a five-paragraph operations order. Safety professionals were seen as the ever-present safety police in our formations, ensuring we all embraced the correct way of doing things. Do you remember those days? Do those stereotypes still seem in the past?
As leaders, we must continue the Army’s transformation, including how we deal with our Soldiers to take full advantage of all that each and every one brings to the fight – and the fight is not just in Iraq or Afghanistan. We are losing Soldiers every 26 hours in combat, but when we take a holistic view of our fatalities – combat and non-combat – we find a Soldier dies every 10 hours. Where is the greatest risk?
We save lives through engaged leadership at every echelon. So, I challenge each of you to get engaged and make a difference.