Commentary: Without a paddle: River teaches ORM lesson Published Oct. 17, 2006 By Staff Sgt. Benjamin Rojek 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AETCNS) -- "I'm going down the river no matter what you say!" Dennis stared at the three of us defiantly. Jill, Mitzi and I stared back in disbelief. I shook my head and stepped forward. "I'll go with you," I said. I regret those words to this day. We were four young Airmen camping in the Dolomite Mountains of Italy. The sky was clear, the air was clean and the river sped past us like a tumultuous liquid highway of doom. I sighed and stepped into the little yellow raft with Dennis, and we pushed off. The girls looked at us in disapproval and sat down on the shore. The river was swift, but smooth for awhile. I even had time to take off my shirt and sandals and shoot some pictures. I almost laughed at how worried I had been earlier, when suddenly, I saw the rapids up ahead. Water began to fill the raft as we were smashed against rocks and tossed around like Poseidon's playthings. I began to panic as the ice-cold glacier runoff rose up to my chest. I thought my life would flash before my eyes, but instead I only saw how we failed to accomplish any type of operational risk management. As we inflated the raft, we should have taken heed of the large warning printed on the side: "Do not use in swift currents." When I asked Dennis where the oars were and he presented two large sticks, I should have said, "What?" When we tried to survey the river by driving past it on the highway, we should have noted that we lost sight of it for three miles. Before leaving Jill and Mitzi, we should have established a way to keep in contact. And last, but not least, we should have untied the rope from the back of the raft. I was snapped out of my daze by Dennis yelling for me to use the stick to push to shore. With a lot of effort, fueled by fear, we made it to the rocky slope that was the "shore." I jumped out of the raft and thanked the heavens that I survived. Then the rope caught my foot. I was under water in a flash. I had time to think, "I'm going to die like in the movies," before I somehow reached down and untangled myself. I jumped back up to shore and dragged Dennis out of the water. The raft continued on without us, carrying our shoes, shirts and my camera away. Jill and Mitzi were meeting us at the lake where the river ended. I was worried about what they might think if they saw the raft float by empty. We began to hike the seven miles back to the lake. Sharp rocks covered the roadside, cutting our feet as we trudged along, wet and defeated. Elderly villagers tending to their gardens glanced at us, surveying two young men who apparently learned a few hard lessons. I did learn a lot that day: Use proper equipment while rafting; don't let your friends talk you into doing something you know isn't right; and "pazzo" is Italian for crazy. But most importantly, I learned how critical it is to use the five-step ORM process: identify the hazards, assess the hazards, make risk decisions, implement controls and supervise. These steps need not only be applied to military missions; they can also help you with such things as planning a vacation or just driving to work. ORM is an important tool in protecting the Air Force's No. 1 resource: Airmen. And if you don't use it, you could end up just like me on that fateful summer day - all wet or much worse.