Safety: We each have to do our part Published Feb. 26, 2014 By Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson Academy Superintendent U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- As we work hard every day to produce leaders of character for our Air Force and our nation, we all must ensure safety remains at the forefront of our minds. We need to be focused, exercise personal discipline and ultimately work together to ensure we accomplish the mission. Like a machine, if we are missing just one part, we cannot function properly. As a team, each of us needs to be 100 percent mission capable -- our success depends upon all the pieces, synchronized and coordinated in a holistic fashion. This is why safety and risk management are so important to what we are doing here at the Air Force's Academy. What we do is critically important to our Air Force and by extension, to our nation. We must apply risk management to what we do every day in support of the mission. We must also apply those same techniques and precautions in all areas of life, on and off duty. Please do not leave your high standards of professionalism and discipline behind when you go out the gate. Our robust safety platform is built upon sound policies, programs and processes. These quickly lose their effectiveness without leadership accountability and personal responsibility. We each have to do our part. Commanders, set the tone -- you are your unit's chief of safety. Supervisors, provide the training and mentorship necessary for your people to safely execute their mission. All of this is underpinned by personal responsibility. Each of us knows what right looks like. It's our responsibility to speak up when something isn't right. In turn, it's our job -- and that of your commander -- to listen and to find ways to address your concerns, keep your workplace safe, and improve our Air Force's Academy!