Commentary: Don't be the one who says, "Oh...#$*%!" Published April 23, 2010 By Col. Charles J. Westgate III 100th Maintenance Group Commander RAF MILDENHALL, England -- It was a beautiful warm July morning. It started just like any other day on a U.S. Air Force base. People were busy preparing aircraft for the morning sorties and recovering aircraft that just returned from operational missions. However, what started out as a very routine day for several Air Force personnel, ended up being very different. For one of them, this would be their last day. Most of the time when someone hears the word "bible," they think of the religious holy book of Christianity or other religions. They may think of the words in this book as providing them guidance for their daily lives or how to get through difficult problems. Well, Air Force personnel have additional bibles that help guide them through their daily duties and help them solve difficult work-related problems. Those bibles are the Air Force technical orders (TO) and Air Force Instructions (AFI). In many religions, bibles or holy books tell stories about people failing to follow the sacred words, which then led to death, destruction or misery. For aircraft maintainers and other career fields, the situation can be very similar if they don't follow TOs or AFIs. In fact, this is exactly the situation that occurred on that warm July day, when a technical sergeant was crushed to death by a part of an aircraft. Adhering to Air Force direction must be at the heart of every Airman's soul. With constant changes to our technical orders and the complex interfaces of our high-tech systems, we cannot afford do our job without following the TO. For maintenance professionals, it is also a main focus of our core value of "Integrity First." Webster's Dictionary defines integrity as incorruptibility or a firm adherence to a code of moral values. Technicians must not be corrupted by falling for the temptation to take short cuts and not using technical orders. On the morning that technical sergeant died, the conversation was captured on the aircraft's cockpit voice recorder. In general, he died because a savvy senior NCO thought he knew a quicker way to get the job done. He made comments like, "trust me ... we do this all the time ... it always works." A young Airman stated she didn't think it was the right thing to do and that isn't how she learned it in tech school. However, the Senior NCO remained confident and determined with his decision. , Shortly after he unfortunately noticed something was wrong, and realized he had made a huge mistake. At that point, you can clearly hear the Senior NCO gasp, "Oh...#$*%!". None of us want to say those words after we've realized that we made a huge mistake. It only takes a few minutes extra to follow the instructions in a technical order or AFI. Those few minutes can help save a life, avoid an injury, prevent damage to an aircraft, or save someone's career. It's much easier to explain you were a few minutes late - if you were doing a job correctly and by the book. However, it's not very easy to explain to a parent or spouse why someone is dead because you were taking a short cut. As Air Force professionals, we must always do what's right and follow the official Air Force regulations and technical orders. While every situation may not lead to a death or injury, we cannot afford to take that chance. Our personnel and equipment are too valuable and limited - and both are irreplaceable. So, I ask you this question, "Do you want to be the person who says, 'Oh...#$*%!'?" I hope your answer is "No."