New requirements for AFDW motorcycle operators

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chyenne A. Adams
  • AFDW Public Affairs
Motorcycle operators assigned to Air Force District of Washington are now required to log into a new Air Force Traffic Safety Program tool, referred to as MUSTT - or Motorcycle Unit Safety Tracking Tool.

According to an official memo released Dec. 20, 2010, signed by the deputy chief of safety for headquarters Air Force, the requirement to be entered into MUSTT applies to all Air Force military personnel who ride a motorcycle. This requirement also applies to Air Force civilian personnel, whether operating on or off a military installation, when in a duty status or on official business riding a motorcycle.

AFDW safety officials are pushing this requirement now, in order to stay ahead of the pending release of the revised AFI 91-207, U.S. Air Force Traffic Safety Program, which makes this mandatory Air Force-wide.

"This is a central database maintained at the Air Force Safety Center," said Edward H. Adams, AFDW director of safety. "This tool will allow the safety center to pull up statistics Air Force-wide, and also allow commanders at all levels to view the statistics on all motorcycle riders at their level."

According to officials, a critical aspect of the Air Force Traffic Safety Program is the ability to codify vehicle operators through a series of demographic data points. Rider age, gender, experience, type of motorcycle, etc., are all critical to targeting mishap prevention efforts.

A recent poll of experts from the National Defense Center for Energy and Environment, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force have estimated the percentage of motorcycle riders to anywhere between 3.6 and 12 percent of the total population. To add precision to this demographic, the safety center's analysis and integration division partnered with the ground safety division to create MUSTT.

This tool is now part of the Air Force Safety Automated System and more than 12,000 riders of the Air Force's estimated 30-50,000 have signed in. This includes more than 100 operators from the 11th Wing and a handful from the 79th Medical Wing and headquarters AFDW staff. This is far from the estimated totals of riders in these organizations, so AFDW safety officials are using unit safety representatives to identify motorcycle operators within their organizations.

AFDW safety officials have trained these individual safety representatives from all units on how to input information into MUSTT on the AFSAS system. Motorcycle operators are responsible for contacting their unit's safety representative to ensure they're identified as a rider and input into the system.

This tool will also provide a more convenient way for all motorcycle operators to keep up with annual training refresher requirements, keeping all records electronic and providing automatic updates.

For more information on MUSTT, or motorcycle safety overall, contact a unit safety representative or call the headquarters AFDW safety office at (301) 981-5225.