AF Chief of Safety visits; honors and tours

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chad Strohmeyer
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  The Air Force Chief of Safety visited Misawa Air Base March 9 to 11. He stopped at Misawa while making his rounds through the Pacific Air Forces area of command.

Maj. Gen. Frederick Roggero toured many base facilities and congratulated the 35th Fighter Wing on accomplishing a perfect flying year with no class A, B or C aviation-related mishaps.

"I'm proud to report that last year the Air Force had the safest mishap rate in our history with only 17 mishaps and Misawa contributed directly to this success with having zero class A, B or C mishaps," said General Roggero. "I tip my hat to the 35th Fighter Wing."

General Roggero said this milestone is because of Misawa Air Base's outstanding training.

"It's the training," he said. "After hearing the pilots and the maintainers talk about their job, you just know that they are getting the right training. Leadership also plays an important role. From the flight chief all the way up to the wing commander, the correct leadership is provided."

While congratulating the wing, General Roggero also ensured communication and feedback flowed steadily throughout the base.

"It's great for me to get out and see our Airmen in the field where their working because I can get that one-on-one or group-on-one feedback on how we are doing with safety throughout the Air Force. Safety is all about communication and leadership. I need to go out and get feedback from the Airmen so we know whether or not we are hitting our safety targets and managing our risk," he said.

In addition to on-duty safety, the general made a point to address off-duty safety. "What we need to work on is when Airmen go outside the gate. Over the last 20 years, we have lost an average of eight Airmen every year in ground mishaps on-duty. In that same time period, we've lost 66 Airmen off-duty."

With the Year of the Air Force Family upon us, one of General Roggero's priorities is getting talking to family members.

"What I am trying to do now is to give our safety messages to family members to help them and to also relay that information back to the Airmen," he said. "It's different when you hear the information from a family member. It's not always about us. We have to include family in our risk management decisions."

"Keep up the leadership; communication and outstanding safety will be another perfect byproduct just like it was in 2009," said General Roggero.