Fort Shafter Flats, Hawaii-- Self-touted as one of the safest units in the Army, the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command successfully completed its quarterly motorcycle mentorship ride, April 18, 2013.
Master Sgt. Joshua Quinton, Senior Mentorship Rider, 94th AAMDC said, "Before we took off, we did important training on motorcycle personal protective equipment (PPE), motorcycle required training, tires, controls, lights, oil, chassis, stands (T-Clocks) and a little bit of training on group riding with all levels of experienced riders."
The ride took about 30 minutes to go from the start point at Fort Shafter Flats to Kuuloa Ranch and another 30 minutes to ride back to the post.
Quinton added, "After we got to the ranch, we sat down to eat and talk about the ride, bringing experienced riders in with a couple of the novice riders to help build camaraderie amongst all of us."
The 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command and the Pacific Air Forces Command work together on many military situations, but this marks the first time that an Airman from the Headquarters Air Force A7 Directorate has worked together to maintain a relationship with motorcycle safety.
Tech. Sgt. Shawn Nichols, Motorcycle Safety Representative, Headquarters Air Force A7 Directorate said, "It's good to come and ride with the Army folks; I am good friends with Master Sgt. Quinton, and I thought that this would be a good opportunity to eventually get the Air Force and Army to ride together to communicate on motorcycle safety."
The two motorcycle safety coordinators plan to work together on future motorcycle rides.
Nichols explained, "This was sort of like a pre-ride to try to get to know the other people and see if this would be something that they would like to be interested in doing later on."
The importance of continuous training on motorcycle safety is key to the prevention of the loss of Soldiers and Airmen and the ability of their units to deploy. Preventable accidents damage our military's readiness, which requires valuable resources to recover from.
Nichols passionately explains, "Everyone who gets a motorcycle should take the time to learn how to ride safely instead of getting on a bike and just taking off and seek others who already have experience and watch out for each other."
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) offers free courses to riders at Schofield Barracks, Hickam Air Force Base and Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay. If you are interested in motorcycle riding, you can sign up online at https://apps.imcom.army.mil/AIRS for any Army installation MSF course.
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