Friends don’t let friends forget about safety Published June 13, 2013 By Steve Serrette 72nd Air Base Wing Safety Office TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- We've heard talk about being a good Wingman and how it relates to safety time and time again. Is it "lip service" or is it valid? The answer depends upon your perspective. Perspective in this case means whether or not you've experienced the death or injury of a family member, friend or co-worker due to a safety mishap. If you've never been through the horror of losing someone close to you -- whether it's on- or off-duty -- you might think, "This will never happen to me" or "I know my limits" or "My friends and I do everything right." When you think this way, the concept of wingman seems irrelevant. Whatever your thought process is, it's a perspective that changes instantly when something does happen to someone you care about. The perspective of a person who's lost a loved one is almost the complete opposite. "What could I have done?" is a common question, along with "Was everything done right?" or "Did this have to happen?" A wingman seems obvious now. Whether you are a wingman or need a wingman, the responsibility is the same. Never hesitate to say when enough is enough. According to Airman 1st Class John Ribbins, a member of the Airman-to-Airman Safety Advisory Council, "Being a wingman is not being a babysitter watching someone's every move. It's being there for that person when they need it most and when they don't need you at all." · http://www.380aew.afcent.af.mil /news/story.asp?id=123312016 · http://afrc.wingmantoolkit.org/ · http://www.andrews.af.mil/news /story.asp?id=123242811 · http://www.usafa.af.mil/news/ story.asp?id=123316981 ·http://www.af.mil/news/story .asp?id=123312901 · http://www.nellis.af.mil/news/ story.asp?id=123291558