Photo By Sgt. Jonathan Thibault | Chief Warrant Officer 4 Douglas Sanders, standardization officer, 4th Attack...... read more read more
FORT CARSON, Colo. - After many years of service and hours of flying all over the world without fail, a 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, aviator was presented a prestigious award Oct. 3.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Douglas Sanders, standardization officer, 4th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, 4th CAB, 4th Infantry Division, won the U.S. Army Forces Command Aircrew Member Safety Award for logging more than 4,000 flight hours without any aviation accidents or mishaps resulting in damage or injury.
“When I was a young aviator it was close to unheard of for someone to have that many flight hours, but there are a lot more 4,000-hour aviators than there used to be due to deployments over the last 10 years,” said Sanders. “I am not sure how many have never had a mishap, but hopefully there are quite a few and their safety officers will submit them for this award also.”
Lt. Col. Christopher M. Weathers, commander, 4th ARB, 4th Aviation Regiment, said this is the first time he has seen the award given in his 17 years of aviation service and is proud of the standard set for his team.
“Sanders’ aviation technical expertise is invaluable to making our unit the best ARB in the Army,” Weathers said. “His level of experience and commitment to excellence is key to that.”
Sanders said it was great recognition for many years of service and safety.
“It would not be possible without the dedication, skill and professionalism of countless people, from my instructors to the maintainers who keep the aircraft flying safely, right down to the flight operations personnel who made sure my flight time was recorded,” he said.
Sanders said he’s not sure if he does anything “different,” but he likes to think that most everyone is trying to do the right things all the time.
“I have always made a deliberate effort to be focused when flying and trying to anticipate what may or will happen during a mission,” Sanders said. “In today’s fight, with so much technology moving so fast, it is very easy to get distracted, which can be deadly in a challenging flight environment. I have many people to thank for teaching me what to pay attention to and when, which, coupled with a little bit of luck, is why I have been able to achieve this milestone.”
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Roger A. Graf, standardization officer, 4th CAB, said he has known Sanders for more than 10 years and has always known him to keep safety utmost in his mind.
“I don’t think he does things much different than other aviators or if he is luckier than other aviators, but Douglas has excelled in his career, is good at what he does, and he is always conscientious of his surroundings,” said Graf.
| Date Taken: | 10.03.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.24.2014 12:58 |
| Story ID: | 145986 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 45 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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