FORT BRAGG, N.C. (April 24, 2012) The U.S. Army Forces Command was presented today with the Army Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Army's Army Headquarters Safety Award for its outstanding safety record and initiatives in fiscal year 2011.
"FORSCOM's safety accomplishments clearly reflect dedicated service as an organization continually striving to achieve Army readiness and mission success," wrote Brig. Gen. William F. Wolf, director of Army Safety, in a congratulatory letter that accompanied the award.
FORSCOM's Deputy Chief of Staff for G-1 (Personnel), Brig. Gen. Thomas Seamands, accepted the award for the command, saying, "I accept this on behalf of the commanders, command sergeants major, first sergeants, and safety professional up and down the chain of command of FORSCOM. Well done."
In FY11, FORSCOM deployed forces and equipment to 63 geographically and environmentally challenging countries in support of combat, disaster, humanitarian, and/or training missions.
While facing repetitive and unequaled levels of risk, these operations were accomplished while continuing to meet the requirements for Army Force Generation and RESET programs and for new or upgraded air and ground vehicles, weapons systems, and munitions.
Some highlights from FORSCOM's successful safety year of conserving human and materiel resources include:
- An 18 percent drop in on- and off-duty fatalities, with a 20 percent decline in privately owned vehicle fatalities and overall Class A through Class C accidents down by 38 percent.
- No Army combat vehicle or Army motor vehicle fatalities even though the command drove more than 84 million miles in those type vehicles.
- Aviation accidents down by 13 percent in spite of a continued high operational tempo of more than 96,000 flight hours flown. FORSCOM completed its fifth year without an aviation-related fatality.
- A 65 percent reduction in total civilian employee accidents.
- A total drop in accident costs of 50 percent, with a cost savings of $30.45 million.
In presenting the award, Col. Kenneth Biland, the deputy commanding officer of the U.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center, attributed FORSCOM's exemplary safety accomplishments to Soldiers assuming individual responsibility and "a continued hands-on approach to accident prevention and direct leader involvement at all levels."
He cited specifically the FORSCOM Commander's Risk Reduction Council, which focuses on all high-risk behaviors for total force protection and had been identified by the Army Safety Office Audit Program team as a "best practice."
As the Army's largest command, FORSCOM provides a sustained flow of trained and ready land power to combatant commanders at home and abroad. It is manned by a combined force 262,000 Active Component Soldiers, 3,499 Department of the Army civilians, a like number of contractors, and a constantly fluctuating number of mobilized Army National Guard and Reserve Soldiers numbering approximately 557,000.
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