Staff Sgt. Joshua Stone, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, maneuvers a motorcycle during the Basic Rider Course offered free for Fort Campbell Soldiers through the Army Traffic Safety Training P...
Specialist Randall Hodge, B Company, 96th Aviation Support Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, navigates a motorcycle, Friday, during the Basic Rider Course offered free for Fort Campbell Soldiers through the Army Traff...
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- "It doesn't matter how good of a rider you are, or how good of a rider you think you are, riding a motorcycle is dangerous." This simple message is one 2nd Brigade Combat Team Command Sgt. Maj. Vincent J. Silva told Soldiers during Fort Campbell Motorcycle Safety Week briefings at Wilson Theater that ran through Friday.
Fort Campbell's Installation Safety Office began Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month by offering the briefings for all Soldier-riders. Silva began each briefing with his own story about motorcycle safety and how even the most careful riders can still encounter trouble. He bought a motorcycle while still in high school.
"I'm on my way to school, going down the road, doing all the right things and wearing all the proper gear … and I feel like a tug on the back of the bike," he said. "All this happened in a split second. I look down and to the right, and the last thing I remember seeing is a white hood and a chrome fender. After that, I woke up three months later in the hospital."
Silva graduated high school from that hospital bed and learned to walk again before joining the Army. He hopes Soldiers will learn from his story and take all necessary precautions, as well as look out for each other on and off the road.
"If you're doing all the right things, you can still get hurt," he said. "If you do something just a little bit silly on a motorcycle, you increase your chances of death exponentially."
After Silva's story brought the reality of motorcycle riding into focus, Installation Safety Specialist Lonnie Scott continued the training by talking about Army motorcycle policies and showing informative videos pertaining to personal protective equipment (PPE), group riding, bike inspections and more.
Two Fort Campbell Soldiers have been killed in motorcycle accidents this fiscal year. While one investigation is still ongoing, Scott said these incidents can be contributed mainly to excessive speed.
"There are more sports bikes on the road now ... these bikes are very, very quick," he said. "If you're doing high speeds, it doesn't matter what you've got on [for protection]."
Motorcycle fatalities are on the decrease Armywide with a 17 percent decrease in Fiscal Year 2014, according to Army safety statistics. While numbers are more encouraging, Scott still warns about speed and being watchful of other drivers.
"You're vulnerable out there. One of the best things you can do is slow down, especially if you're in a congested area like 41A or intersections such as that," Scott said. "Slow down and protect yourself."
One way that Fort Campbell helps keep Soldier-riders safe is through Army-mandated training courses. Soldiers riding on or off post must take the Basic Rider Course. Motorcycle Safety Foundation-approved courses are offered off-post for a cost. However, Fort Campbell's BRC is free.
The two-day course begins promptly at 7:15 a.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 6074 Screaming Eagle Blvd
"We provide the motorcycle and the PPE," Scott said. "We give you a helmet, gloves. You can come in your uniform or you can come in long pants, long-sleeved shirt. Wear boots when you come to that training."
After completing BRC, motorcyclists must take the Experienced Rider Course or Military Sport Bike Rider Course within a year, then repeat the advanced training every five years. In the advanced courses, Scott said instructors help riders correct bad habits. These courses are available on alternating Wednesdays.
These courses are popular, and Scott said there is usually a waitlist. The training must be scheduled through the unit's schools noncommissioned officer and the Army Training Requirements and Resources System (ATRRS).
The safety briefing concluded with a presentation from Jon Nelson, a fellow motorcycle rider and Army Substance Abuse Program prevention coordinator. He cautioned Soldiers to avoid drinking and riding, despite the cultural norms within the motorcycle community to do so.
"We ride to eat," he said. "We ride to party, because that's part of this culture."
Nelson said of the 1,426 U.S. rider fatalities in 2011, 33 percent were under the influence. On a motorcycle, there's no such thing as a designated driver, Nelson said. Motorcyclists are also less likely than drivers to leave their mode of transportation in a parking lot and call a cab if they drink too much, he added.
"I'm not leaving that $40,000 Harley-Davidson sitting in a bar parking lot overnight. I guarantee most of you are not going to do that either," Nelson said. "Not to mention the fact that even if you have one or two standard servings of alcohol that will impair the things that are so important to us riding."
Nelson also explained how researchers have found four personality traits that lead to more alcohol consumption: sensation seeking, gregarious, rebellious and impulsive. These traits are abundant in the motorcycle community, he said.
"Some of you ride your bikes down the interstate, 140 miles an hour. 'Look at me; look at me! So a lot of us have the gregarious trait," Nelson said. "Don't let this ride hard, play hard culture cloud your judgment."
Specialist Christopher Sorenson, 212th Combat Stress Control, sat through Friday's briefing. He grew up riding on the back of his parents' motorcycles, and he is now part of the Rolling Thunder motorcycle organization.
"We're a Vets organization," the 25-year-old said. "We're based out of the VFW in Smyrna, but we promote Veterans' affairs, POW/MIA mission statements dealing with Soldiers who haven't returned from past wars, and Soldiers returning from both present and past wars who are coming back now as they find their bodies. We do funeral processions, flag raising, stuff like that."
Sorenson rides an 1100 Honda Shadow -- a "slow cruising" motorcycle. He bought the bike prior to joining the Army in 2013. Army safety requirements are not much different from the way he grew up, Sorenson said.
"Both my parents are kind of like, all-the-gear-all-the-time, so I grew up wearing -- on the back of their bikes -- full leathers and boots," he said. "So the only thing that changed for me [after joining the Army] is I had to put on a reflective belt."
Sorenson now encourages other Soldiers who want to start riding to wear all the protective equipment and be safe, but he said it is ultimately their choice. Being among other Soldiers and in a motorcycle organization has shown him how important it is to take precautions.
"For me, I've seen what happens when you don't," he said. "I've had plenty of friends and people even in Rolling Thunder who've [been in accidents]. One, she had the front of her face shattered because she got hit by a golf ball of all things, riding by a golf course."
MORE information
For more information about motorcycle courses or riding on post, call Lonnie Scott at (270) 461-0067 or visit campbell.army.mil/SitePages/Home.aspx.
Soldiers are required to wear the following when riding on or off the installation:
*Helmets
*Eye protection
*Foot protection
*Protective clothing (Florescent colors and retro-reflective material is encouraged.)
To ride Soldiers must have:
*Motorcycle license or endorsement on state license (not required to take Basic Rider Course)
*Motorcycle Safety Foundation or state-approved Motorcycle Training Card
*Proof of Insurance
*State vehicle registration
*Fort Campbell vehicle registration
*Proper personal protective equipment
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