Logistical task force ranks safety as priority one Logistical task force ranks safety as priority one by Staff Sgt. When the 21st Theater Army Area Command logistical task force deployed to Rijeka, Croatia, to off-load and move more than 800 pieces of equipment in support of Operation Joint Forge, safety was considered priority number one. One accident or injury that could have been avoided with the proper safety precautions is one too many, he added. Lohmueller, who has been deployed in support of Stabilization Forces in Bosnia and Croatia three times before, said he likes real-world operations because he can actually see the immediate effects of good safety measures and how they affect the soldiers who are working on the ground. My job is to point out things that are working well and things that need improvements.
Safety is everyone's responsibility, from the lowest ranking soldier to the task force commander.
Lohmueller said when he first arrived at the seaport in Rijeka, he and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Chuck Menchion, an aviation safety expert from the 12th Aviation Brigade, walked through the area to include the aviation staging base and conducted a combined risk assessment. First, we did a pre-occupational risk assessment in the living and work areas. Whenever one or more factors change, the assessment changes. For example, when slingloading helicopters from the ship and the weather conditions change, such as gusty winds, the control measures of our risk assessment change. Timelines will have to be shifted, work postponed or at least slowed, and ultimately the entire operation is affected.