Risk Management Approach: A Concept for Balancing Risks With Mission Needs

摘要

One of the most controversial issues associated with Army readiness concerns a perceived dichotomy between realistic training and safety. On one hand, commanders must conduct hard, tough, realistic training-to train as they will fight. On the other hand, they are critically aware that safety is paramount. This seems to be demanding the impossible, as if realistic training and safety are incompatible partners in a marriage destined to fail. Basically, the problem lies in a failure to integrate the requirement for safety with the demand for realistic combat training. Each element is too often viewed separately, and, in the process, safety is erroneously seen as an inhibitor to training. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is, effective realistic training can be conducted with an acceptable risk factor. Simply stated, safety is a by-product of risk reduction A high management of inherent mission risks. Essentially, the risk management approach is the identification of risks associated with a particular operation and the requirement to weigh these risks against overall training value to be gained. Any increase in the level of difficulty in the mission produces a corresponding increase in the risk involved.