VAFB safety office 'TOPS' in command for second year Published Jan. 23, 2007 By 2nd Lt Nicole Poff Public Affairs Vance Air Force Base, Okla. -- Vance Air Force Base's safety record achieved Air Education and Training Command recognition for the second year in a row. The 71st Flying Training Wing received the Air Education and Training Command To Promote Safety, or TOPS, Trophy, an award that promotes safety awareness over the entire spectrum of AETC operations, along with the Gen. Frank P. Lahm Trophy that recognizes the AETC flying wing with the best flight safety program through that award year. "You can see how these awards happen two years in a row because at Vance AFB, safety is more than just a cliché, more than just a wing office, it's something that is ingrained in the way we do business and the way we conduct our day to day ops," aid Lt Col Robert Weiland, chief of wing safety. The TOPS trophy is awarded to the AETC wing whose overall safety program is determined to be the best in AETC at the end of the fiscal year. At the end of fiscal '04, the 71st Flying Training Wing could boast zero Class A mishaps across the board including flight, ground and weapons. Most importantly, there were zero fatalities on and off duty. The 71st FTW safety record was also recognized at the Air Force level. Team Vance received a U.S.Air Force Flight Safety Plaque that recognizes Air Force organizations below numbered Air Force level for outstanding achievement in or contribution to flight safety and the Air Force Chief of Safety Outstanding Achievement Award for Ground Safety. "You can have the best programs by far from the safety office, but when it comes down to it, when the individual instructor pilot or student in a jet takes off and has no supervision whatsoever, it [safety] has to be ingrained in them or it doesn't work," said Maj Ryan Guiberson, chief of flight safety. According to the awards package submitted, Vance conducted 282,000 hours of flying without a Class A or B flight mishap. This is a phenomenal feat for such a busy unit. This type of immaculate flying record has distinguished Team Vance as the number one Air Force Active Duty Flying Unit in AETC and only exemplifies this engrained sense of safety that Colonel Weiland and Major Guiberson have promoted throughout Team Vance. "It takes a lot of backing from leadership and having good people that believe in what you are telling them and understand that safety is something that you need to think of no matter what your job is," said Col Weiland.