What's your BOLDFACE? Published May 10, 2011 By Lt. Col. Christopher Borchardt 436th Aerospace Medicine Squadron commander DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Being efficient and effective under normal circumstances can be a challenge. When you're distracted, tired, or stressed it's essential to have something to fall back on to get you through. Your personal BOLDFACE can be that tool, and I swear by it. BOLDFACE, in the context I'm referring to, is a short checklist you can run in your mind when success counts. One that private pilots become familiar with when an engine quits in the air is CARBURETOR HEAT/ ESTABLISH GLIDE/ FIND FIELD. Quickly getting out of a typical Air Force fighter on the ground starts with BELT/ KIT/ HARNESS/ G-SUIT RELEASE. These lists are short and very effective if you can reflexively execute them when required. I'm asking "What's your BOLDFACE?" hoping that you already employ something along these lines in your daily life, and if not I hope that I can inspire you to start. One of my most useful is simply my 'handfull' list. Folks often stare at me as I pause in the hall for nine seconds holding out my five-fingered hand and touching a couple pockets and my neck lanyard for the CAC card. While they're saying "hurry up, we're going to be late," I'm working through these five important items CAC/ KEYS/ WALLET/ PHONE/ SUN GLASSES. When we get to the gym and they're sent back to the office for their CAC, or worse, coming back from off-base and end up with that always fun trip to the visitors center because they left their CAC, then who just wasted more time? My nine second BOLDFACE running through five important things clearly didn't make us late or disrupt the day more than the delays surrounding forgetting your wallet, phone, or CAC. Although that example of a personal items checklist may seem trivial and perhaps obsessive it's the routine of running my BOLDFACE that I'm trying to remain consistent with. If you become disciplined and creative with your checklists, you could save a life, maybe your own. I participated in an A-10 midair collision investigation where both pilots ejected out of harm's way. One pilot floated down to safety only to find his comrade's parachute empty on the ground and his close friend dead a mile upwind from his position. In the ensuing rush of scheduling changes and operational challenges of that hectic exercise prepping for an ORI the deceased A-10 pilot had not strapped the leg belts of his harness and subsequently flew out of the chute immediately after ejection. A very bad day was made infinitely worse by the omission of one checklist item. Personal checklists should be made for anything you find yourself routinely forgetting or that have significant consequences if missed. Who hasn't left their CAC or wallet at home? Why not make sure you have your keys, phone and sunglasses while you're at it. That's an obvious checklist for most of us, and why I used it as an example. I have quick lists for my daily motorcycle commute, medical-documentation review, essentially anything that is unforgiving, and I run the strap-in list three different times before takeoff whenever I fly with ejection seat aircraft for obvious reasons. Ultimately checklists are about knowing rather than hoping or guessing. Disciplined and frequent use reinforces their effectiveness. The seconds spent executing your checklists will save minutes, hours, days and perhaps your life. Craft your lists and routine wisely and if you run into me around the base, or the world, I'd truly be interested in knowing your answer to "what's your BOLDFACE?"