Have a good wingman plan

  • Published
  • By Maj. Theodore Anderson
  • 39th Air Base Wing Safety Office
A junior officer walks into a bar. That's not the setup for a dumb joke, but a tragic and all-too-familiar story. The lieutenant is out partying with his friends when he suddenly disappears from their sight. He walks out of the club, climbs into his car and tries to drive home on the wrong side of the road with a blood alcohol level at nearly twice the legal limit. A truck driver driving the other direction sees the oncoming car but doesn't realize it's on the wrong side until there's no time to react. The young Lt. is killed instantly when the high-speed impact crumples his car like an accordion.

In the aftermath of the accident, the Lt.'s friends are stunned. "We were good wingmen," they insist, paying lip service to the hot topic du jour, "we had a plan." Unfortunately the plan this Lt. and his friends followed didn't keep him alive. Don't get me wrong here; I'm not blaming his friends. Maybe, just maybe, a more well thought out or executed wingman plan could have saved him.

What are the elements of a good wingman plan? I thought you'd never ask. A good wingman plan consists of three simple steps: check-in, contracts, and lost wingman rally procedures.

Check-in starts before the first beer is cracked open. At check-in the designated driver is established as the group's Flight Lead and keymaster. All keys go to the keymaster or the group doesn't taxi out of the chocks. Our example and far too many others show that drunk people will find a way to drive if they keep their keys. This is also a good time to be sure everyone has each other's cell phone numbers and that everyone has a Tricare card in case of an emergency. Finally, lead establishes the contracts formation: no one wanders off alone, periodic (i.e., hourly) checks at a prominent meeting place and final rally point for the night.

So what happens if, as in our example, somebody does go off alone? The first line of defense against this is the individual's buddy. We're not asking you to hold hands with each other out there; everyone knows you're probably there to meet someone new. We're just saying that buddies should at least keep line of sight on each other as much as possible. When someone disappears, that's where lost wingman procedures go into effect.

As soon as an Airman loses his immediate wingman, notify lead. At this time, all partying stops until everyone is accounted for. It doesn't matter if you're seconds away from a private tour of the Swedish Bikini Team's bus. Drop everything, pay the tab and proceed to the designated rally point. As the group is assembling, use all available means to locate the lost wingman. Once the lost soul is found, face-to-face contact is required at the rally point. It's not good enough that he answers the phone or that the bartender saw him there five minutes ago. By getting lost he's given up the right to have fun until everyone rallies. Once the entire flight is reassembled, lead (the sober guy) decides whether to re-attack the bar or press on home.

The final part of the wingman plan involves rally procedures at the end of the night. Each team is responsible to break away from the fun and be in place no later than the established rally time. If someone doesn't make it, initiate lost wingman procedures until everyone's together. At this time the group follows the transportation plan (taxis, trains, designated drivers, etc.) to get everyone to the designated bed down spot. Lead is responsible for keeping the keys until at least the following day, and tries to keep the drunks from re-launching on their own. The plan ends when everyone in the group is sober and the keys are redistributed. As with any other Air Force plan, a debrief should take place to talk about what went right and wrong. This is the time to point out anyone who failed to follow the plan and suggest that they drink less or find another team to take care of them.

In this article I've talked about the wingman plan in relation to a night out at a club off base, but it doesn't only apply there. For example, a good wingman plan might have prevented a recent alcohol related incident where wandering drunks went looking for trouble and were able to find it. The plan can also be used for a shopping trip to Adana, a group motorcycle ride to the coast, or an Information Ticket and Tours-sponsored tour in Izmir. In all those cases the group has its initial and periodic check-ins, establishes lost wingman procedures and it rallies at the end of the day. No matter what the activity, the goal of the wingman program is the same: get all of our Airmen and families safely back to the house. Check six!