101 Critical Day of Summer: Campaign logs best results in 10 years Published Sept. 9, 2008 By Air Force Print News and Keesler News Staff WASHINGTON -- The Air Force wrapped up the 101 Critical Days of Summer safety campaign over Labor Day weekend, ending the safest campaign in the last 10 years. The 81st Training Wing didn't report any fatalities or permanently-disabling injuries during the period. There were, however, eight injuries in the 2008 campaign ranging from slipping and falling to sports-related injuries. This compares with one fatality and two minor injuries at Keesler in the 2007 campaign. The 81st TRW mishap costs were greatly reduced this year as a result. In 2007 they were $152,091 compared to $8,398 in 2008. "Commanders and supervisory involvement, along with good personal risk management was a key player in our success story," said Virgil Mitchell, 81st TRW chief of safety. "Although I consider our safety campaign a success, we can still improve a lot during the next campaign, which has been designated the Fall Safety Campaign." The statistics don't include associate units and contractors working for and with the 81st TRW. In these categories, a vehicle mishap and contractor operations led to two Keesler fatalities, and a motorcycle mishap led to a permanent disabling injury. Elsewhere in the Air Force, 16 Airmen died in the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, whereas in 2006, the previous safest summer season of the decade, 17 Airmen died in the same period. The Air Force averaged 24 deaths during the past ten 101 Critical Days of Summer periods. During this year's campaign, the Air Force experienced six automobile deaths, five motorcycle deaths, four sports- and recreation-related deaths, and one death as a result of a home-maintenance injury. Since the first 101 Critical Days of Summer campaign in 1967, Air Force leaders have put an extra emphasis on safety during the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when people are generally more active and in the outdoors more often than the rest of the year. In keeping with a safety mindset, the Department of Defense is placing focus on private motor vehicle-related mishaps during the summer and winter months as a result of significant spikes. Statistics show that across the services PMV-related mishaps not only rose during the traditional campaign months, but also increased significantly during the months of September through November, up to 40 percent above the 101 Critical Days campaign. So a Fall Safety Campaign kicked off using lessons learned from the summer months to provide a springboard for attacking the problem of fatalities and continuing the momentum of mishap prevention. It started the day after Labor Day and goes through the end of November. This effort is aimed at being a true joint campaign with the Air Force as the lead service. Airmen can expect aggressive discussion on personal safety both at work and at home, and are encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance in all they do. "Being a good wingman, situational awareness and risk management should continue to be key players in mishap prevention efforts of all Keesler members," said Mr. Mitchell. Staff Sgt. Tanya Holditch, Keesler News editor, contributed to this report