Five-time champ: motorcycle safety team triumphs again

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Samuel Taylor
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  An indiscriminate killer stalks our service members. Night and day, motorcycle mishaps rob the Air Force of more Airmen per month than any other cause. At Dover Air Force Base, Del., one team has taken a stand.

The team has armed themselves with the knowledge and experience needed to defend Team Dover. It is an uphill battle, but one that Master Sgt. John Willard, Team Dover's lead rider-coach, and his motorcycle safety team are facing it head-on - and showing results.

Dover AFB's motorcycle safety program earned its fifth-consecutive Distinguished Motorcycle Safety Award from Air Mobility Command Nov. 21. In addition to the award, Dover AFB's motorcycle safety program boasts AMC's top rider-coaches for the past three years: Staff Sgt. Nicholas Giordano in 2011, and Willard in 2010 and 2012.

"Team Dover is a family, and I will not tolerate allowing a family member to hop on a bike knowing that he or she has received anything less than our best education and preparation," said the native of Jacksonville, Fla. "That's what this program is about: building a history of sustained motorcycle excellence fueled by the passion of riders helping riders."

Within the last five years, the dedicated two-wheelers at Dover AFB have turned that goal into a reality.

During fiscal years 2011 and 2012, there were zero class A and B motorcycle accidents and more than a 35 percent reduction of total costs related to motorcycle mishaps.

"The reason we can put numbers like that up is because our riders take safety personally," said Willard. "Whenever a fellow rider returns from a ride safe and unharmed, we see the fruits of our labor."

The all-volunteer ride-coach force - one of the few non-contracted, and therefore free, motorcycle safety teams in the Department of Defense - educated 561 DOD personnel through riding courses catering to all experience levels.

The Beginner Riders' Course offers a 15-hour introductory course to motorcycle riding at no cost to students. Willard said the average number of riders who pass the course is higher than the state average. Specifically, the number of female riders who pass the BRC on base is approximately twice as high as the statewide average.

The Advanced Rider Course are filled with riders who, having already mastered the basics of motorcycle riding, still take the initiative in further developing their capacity to ride safely.

"I am especially proud of our Advanced Rider Courses; they are filled with experienced riders who are not content with letting their skills stagnate," said Willard.

Willard said that with the number of riders steadily growing, so too will the responsibility of Team Dover's motorcycle safety team. With five AMC awards in hand, and the eighth-annual Motorcycle Safety Day in the works, the team is showing no signs of easing off the throttle.