Photo By Master Sgt. David Eichaker | Mr. Thomas Holly, safety manager for the Michigan Army National Guard, instructs...... read more read more
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YPSILANTI, Mich.—Protecting and preserving personnel and property against accidental loss promotes a safe and healthy workplace. Having a robust safety program assists in reaching that incident-free goal.
Mr. Thomas Holly, safety manager for the Michigan Army National Guard (MIARNG) recently hosted an additional duty safety officer (ADSO) workshop attended by approximately 25 Michigan National Guard Soldiers. The workshop aligns with the vision of U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Lawrence Schloegl, assistant adjutant general (ATAG) and commander of the MIARNG, which is to have every officer starting with lieutenant attend in order to promote a safe and healthy force.
“When an officer is promoted into command positions, they will already be prepared by taking this course and will not have to learn something else as they take on leadership positions,” said Holly. “There will be a lot of things they will be juggling as a commander and having lieutenants take this course now will ease their role as commanders in the future.”
Although safety is everyone’s responsibility, leadership has the charge of fostering safe practices and procedures.
“The safety program is a commander’s program,” said the retired chief warrant officer 5. “It’s going to be important that future commanders understand what direction they want to go and this course will help lead them to a successful safety program.”
Although the seats were filled mostly with commissioned officers, the course had several noncommissioned officers (NCOs) in attendance. The role of the NCOs will be to assist commanders in implementing the safety program.
“We want to provide the additional safety officers and additional duty NCOs the tools needed to enhance the safety program,” said Holly.
Participants took to heart the importance of the safety program and the impact safety has in performing their job.
“I want to learn more about the program we can use in our daily routines and annual training,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class John Thorpe, 1461st Transportation Company, MIARNG. “We drive a lot of trucks on public streets and highways and in doing so, we encounter a lot of risks and want to keep everyone on the road safe.”
The benefits of the ADSO course will continue well after completion.
“I’m hoping I gain enough knowledge and enough resources to work with my leadership to build one centralized safety program for the unit,” said the over-the-road transportation senior NCO. “We want to incorporate everything from vehicle training to weapons training and see the value to what went right and wrong and revise the program if needed.”
Conferences like this one provide networking opportunities where Soldiers interact and build professional relationships while discussing complex issues that otherwise would have been missed.
“Training like this is great as you learn from the speakers and material, but I get more out of it from listening to other Soldiers in the class,” said Thorpe. “Classmates ask questions and provide scenarios that I may not think about and learn from those answers and conversation.”
The course not only mitigates mishaps, but helps with risk assessments in real-world situations.
“The ADSO course helps with on-going missions,” said U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bryan Dick, 3 Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment, 63rd Troop Command, Michigan Army National Guard, adding the unit is building up programs to where UTMs can use risk management to do any type of mission.
“Risk management needs to be instilled into our culture that is critical to maintaining overall readiness,” he said.
The ADSO program has continuously developed since its inception in 2017, growing from a one-day course four times a year to a two-day course that is slated to administer six classes for fiscal year 2020.
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.11.2020 08:38 |
| Story ID: | 362517 |
| Location: | YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 220 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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