United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School

Hometown: Fort Bragg, NC, US






United States Army Special Operations Command
Fort Bragg, NC, US

Ride reinforces standard

09.25.2014 | FORT BRAGG, NC, US
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Shelman Spencer

FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Cloudy skies and slight mist of rain didn’t stop motorcyclist assigned to the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School from conducting a mentorship ride to Bentonville Battleground, Newton Grove on Sept. 25.

Soldiers and civilians took part in the mentorship ride to improve their skills while exchanging knowledge and experience of the open road.

Philip J. Taxiera, a safety officer at USAJFKSWCS, gave a brief prior to departure highlighting the potential risk of the day’s ride.

“We are conducting a USAJFKSWCS Safety Motorcycle Mentorship Ride to Bentonville Civil War site to educate riders on full personal protective equipment and reinforce basic rider skills in compliance with Department of the Army and United States Army Special Operations Command guidance, which is to conduct mentorship rides to reinforce good riding techniques and set the standards,” said Taxiera, USAJFKSWCS Safety Office.

Six groups of riders -- novice paired with experienced -- checked their equipment and motorcycles before heading out on the rural
roads of North Carolina to Newton Grove.

“We’ve had a few incidents in the past few months regarding motorcycle riding with younger, less experienced riders and their ability to navigate the traffic of this area,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Heriberto Serrano Jr., command chief warrant officer for USAJFKSWCS. “By bringing everyone out here today, we are mentoring and familiarizing riders with different traffic and urban areas. We are making riders aware of the hazards and to abide by the laws while being mentored from the more experienced riders.”

Motorcycles are designed with different purposes and functionality, which varies the handling and maneuverability. The model a rider choses varies based on personality and desire.

“We have a wide array of levels of riding experience with both active duty and retired, with every style of bikes out here and with that comes different riding techniques,” said Master Sgt. David Cardenas, USAJFKSWCS doctrine analyst. “Learning and knowing how to ride a motorcycle is something you learn in a day or two but actually taking things into account that you encounter on the road day to day and seeing different hazards and conditions takes years of experience to read. That’s the premise of being out here today.”

Motorcycle riders love the freedom of the open road but must still be cognizant of the hazards. Riders need to use practices learned and apply the motorcycle safety strategies learned in the basic motorcycle safety courses.