FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. — As more than 3,300 Soldiers train across Fort Hunter Liggett during Operation Bold Eagle, the 63d Readiness Division's Safety and Occupational Health Office works behind the scenes to help commanders identify hazards, preserve combat power and keep the exercise moving safely.
Long before the first convoy reaches a training area, safety personnel inspect roads, evaluate sites and participate in planning conferences to identify potential hazards. Once training begins, they conduct daily assessments, advise leaders, investigate serious mishaps and share lessons learned to improve future operations.
"We're able to integrate a safety mindset with the actual line leaders at the planning conferences and at some of these briefings," said Charles Quinones, director of Safety and Occupational Health for the 63d Readiness Division. "They're the ones who are going to make change."
Throughout the exercise, Quinones and his team inspect training areas, monitor convoy operations and Soldier living conditions, and investigate significant mishaps to identify contributing factors that can prevent future incidents. They also review generator grounding, fuel containment, hygiene facilities and redeployment plans, helping leaders correct issues before they affect operations.
"Safety is leaders doing their job," Quinones said. "Everything that we emphasize in safety is a procedure, a process or a technique, and leaders are supposed to know those procedures and integrate them properly." Beyond preventing accidents, the Safety and Occupational Health Office helps leaders ensure Soldiers have clean water, quality food, functioning hygiene facilities and proper medical documentation so units remain healthy and focused on training. Quinones said safety guidance must also remain practical as Soldiers operate increasingly complex equipment in demanding environments.
Operation Bold Eagle is a premier multi-echelon training exercise providing mission command for 74 units and more than 3,300 participating Soldiers. The exercise combines Combat Support Training Exercise and Global Medic to prepare forces for large-scale combat operations in a rigorous multi-domain operations environment.