Safety first this Super Bowl weekend

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Michael Williams
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing command chief
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Team Travis, are you ready for some football! Superbowl XLIII is only a couple of days away; the Pittsburgh Steelers will square off against the Arizona Cardinals to determine the Super Bowl champions. Sunday is postured as the backdrop for thousands of fun-filled parties and social gatherings across our nation. Millions of Americans around the world are now preparing for this festive event; big-screen televisions, surround sound systems, hot wings and beverage sales will undoubtedly increase. Jovial fans, wearing the jerseys of their favorite team, will invade sports bars and homes, high fiving one another after each electrifying play and touchdown. Where will you be at kickoff? 

Where ever you are, we need you to play it safe and make responsible choices - don't consume alcohol then drive afterwards. It's imperative you develop and execute a game plan for not drinking and driving. When you drive to a sports bar or travel to a friend's house to watch the game and consume alcohol without a plan, in reality, you decided to drink and drive the moment you retrieved your keys heading to the event. For those of you that employ the 0-0-1-3 slogan, trying to calculate the right mixture of alcohol and time, I urge you to forget about the slogan 0-0-1-3! If you have one drink, don't drive ... it's that simple - don't hang your career or life on a slogan. As American Airmen we take an oath to protect and defend this country against all enemies foreign and domestic. When Airmen consume alcohol and subsequently operate a motor vehicle they become a domestic enemy and place lives in jeopardy. 

We hold our players to a higher standard because our team is unique and as such, America demands we meet those standards. No other team requires you to place your life on the line for children not yet born or for people you've never met. The game we play is for freedom and democracy where everyone's a winner. It takes every player on our team to accomplish our mission; from the front gate to the back gate and everyone in between, we're all of equal value. Therefore, it's extremely important we have the entire team on the field at the right time going in the same direction each and every snap.
Our Air Force's number three priority is "Develop and care for Airmen and their families." 

As the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force stated, "This isn't a catch-phrase our senior leadership developed, it is true - we care about you." Don't destroy your career or a life because you decided to drink and drive. Don't get penalized this weekend and lose a great opportunity because when you lose, we all lose. So go long and let's score a touchdown (no alcohol-related incidents) this weekend; be a good wingman and make responsible choices! Be safe Team Travis and I'll see you around campus as I look forward to those hilarious new commercial ads, hot wings a cold beverage and watching the Steelers' terrible towels flying alongside the Cardinals' high flying offense.