MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- The Marine Corps Executive Safety Board (ESB) held its 10th semiannual conference at the James Wesley Marsh Center on Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va., Sept. 21-22.
The conference, hosted by Marine Corps Recruiting Command, gathered nearly 50 ESB members and safety representatives from Marine Corps commands and installations around the world. Some of the conference attendees included board chairman, General William L. Nyland, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Sgt. Maj. John L. Estrada, and commanders of Marine Forces Pacific, Marine Forces Atlantic and Marine Forces Reserve.
“Our role here is to find the best practices that can improve Marine safety, reduce mishaps, injuries and loss of lives, and preserve Marine assets,” said Col. Fred Wenger III, director, Safety Division, Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC), Washington, D.C.
This year’s conference entitled, “Excellence in Safety is Excellence in Warfighting,” included safety updates from operational forces and briefings about safety initiatives that may impact the Corps in the future.
With the board’s goal to minimize mishaps, the discussion of ongoing research and developmental programs was a major topic at the conference. To assist board members to plan for future initiatives, representatives from Behavioral Science Technologies, a consulting firm, provided the results of a behavioral study conducted to assess the climate of safety in the Marine Corps. The study showed positive data in how safety was viewed by Marines as a whole.
Although Corps-wide awareness of safety is a priority, the Marine Corps is still losing lives and equipment to safety-related mishaps.
“The Marine Corps has acknowledged we have a serious safety problem in combat and off duty,” Estrada said. “Every Marine or sailor who loses their lives or who gets seriously injured decreases our combat efficiency.”
One initiative that will help battle safety related mishaps is the new aviation and ground mishap reporting system that staff members introduced. This October, the Naval Safety Center (NSC) will employ and manage the Web-Enabled Safety System II (W.E.S.S. II). The web-based information system is a user-friendly data collection and reporting tool that will be used at all major commands. The new system is capable of accommodating up to 44,000 user identification signatures and will soon replace the Corps’ current reporting system. As the new system is established, data currently stored will be transferred to W.E.S.S. II allowing users to access ground safety data as far back as 1988.
“This new system is going to be very valuable as to recording and tracking, and as an analytical tool to investigate causes and eventually enhance the Corps’ safety program,” Wenger said.
Despite the Corps efforts in better managing and updating its mishap reporting systems, ESB members emphasized the importance of using leadership as the primary tool in winning the battle against mishaps. Some discussion topics included possibly implementing structured mentoring and training programs that would ensure Marines incorporate safety as part of the Marine culture.
“Safety is a by-product of effective leadership,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Jones, commanding general of Training and Education Command, MCB, Quantico, Va. “If we’re going to be successful at mentoring in the Marine Corps every unit has got to embrace it. We want to make it formal yet flexible enough for a commander to do what he or she thinks is best for their organization.”
With the Executive Safety Board’s intent on instilling leadership as a means of nurturing safety as part of our culture, board members are confident their plans and initiatives will significantly reduce mishaps Corps-wide.
“Marines need to realize the top leadership of the Corps are genuinely concerned with the safety of every single Marine,” Wenger said. “The safety program in the Marine Corps revolves around improving combat effectiveness and in order to do this we need to keep our Marines healthy, injury free and able to preserve our assets.”
An ALMAR will be released in the near future, outlining topics discussed during the Executive Safety Board.