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Recently, the 721st Air Mobility Operations Group held a safety down day on Ramstein Air Base.
Each of the organizations under the 721st AMOG — the 721st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 721st Aerial Port Squadron, 313th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron, and 10th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight participated, crafting events as they pertained to their job.
The purpose of the down day was to allow 721st AMOG leaders to focus on growing their Airmen. They worked with the 618th Air Operations Center to minimize air traffic into and out of Ramstein for the day to ensure sufficient training was conducted and focus was directed to the material.
“We needed this, and not just for the purpose of safety,” said Tech. Sgt. Joey Whatley, 721st AMXS C-Flight flight line expediter. “To actually limit the amount of air flow coming in and out of here is a tremendous way to help these guys take a break and then talk about safety, sexual assault awareness and prevention, wingman training and have a little fun. It’s a great way to spend a day at work.”
Getting away from a day of briefings, the day was filled with interactive sessions.
“Throughout the Air Force sports and [recreation] is one of the mishap producers, so we started out the day with a fitness challenge and fun run,” said Tech. Sgt. Carlton Anthony, 721st AMXS safety noncommissioned officer in charge.
Anthony said the unit made sure the Airmen knew how to stretch properly before a work out, cool down procedures, and to not push themselves beyond their limits even though members still have to meet Air Force physical fitness requirements.
A risk assessment portion allowed Airmen to tell their stories of what they have faced on the road.
“We had a lot of interaction between the sections and different maintainers with different past experiences and how to better prepare, how to plan and how to make sure you are taking care of your team when you are on the road,” said Anthony.
Having already touched the physical and social domains, master resilience trainers and resilience training assistants facilitated discussions on mental and spiritual resilience as the day progressed.
“We talked about value based goal setting and making sure that people are also taking care of themselves by setting deliberate goals,” said Anthony. “Making sure they define what their values are to them, making time, setting goals for themselves and how to actually chart a path on how to reach those goals.”
Airmen also competed against each other by forming relay teams; pushing stands, moving power carts and donning protective gear all in the safest way possible. The final task in the relay included reviewing aircraft records, another aspect of their daily activities that should never be overlooked.
Senior Airman Isaiah Martinez, 721st AMXS communications navigation technician, said that from the day’s activities the Airmen gained a better general idea of safety topics and good cohesion.
“It’s been a good, well-spent day so we can take this further in our careers,” said Martinez.
