In my previous life I was a bomb slinger. “Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist” was my official title. It sounds super fancy, but for the first 6 years of my 10 year Air Force career – truth be told – I loaded bombs, missiles, and ammo on F-16 fighter aircraft.

That's me in the middle

Armaments in general are nasty things. They’re designed to maim, kill, destroy, and burn plants, animals, buldings, and, unfortunately, people to a crisp. But they’re “necessary” tools.

Those were just the conventional armaments. I was also tasked to load non-conventional armaments like AP (Armor Piercing) ammo, anti-tank bombs, guided missles, chemical weapons, and even nukes. Real. Nasty. Stuff.

In the Air Force we were trained from day 1 to ALWAYS, no excuses, 100% of the time use checklists to make sure we did the load proper every single time. If we messed up a bomb or missle load it could cause a deadly situation for the pilot and fellow airmen. Could you imagine a hung nuke coming back to base? Not acceptable – ever.

Suffice it to say the military ingrained a lot of good habits into my head. Things I would take back to the business world when I left the service.

One of those things was that it’s absolutely necessary to do tasks that are proven safe and efficient the same way every single time. Even though I’ve been out of the Air Force for over 17 years I still remember exactly how to load a MK-84 GP bomb on an F-16. It’s dwelled in my brain after doing it 5-7 days a week, 50 weeks a year for 6 years.

But – if I was to go back, I’d still know that I have to follow that checklist. I’m human. I forget steps. I get nervous under the pressure of people shouting orders, of aircraft hazards, of time constraints. I make mistakes. We all do. And a checklist (that is used) is proven to save lives and businesses.

One time I trusted one of my crew members (employee, if you will) to set up his “jammer” (bomb forklift) for a certain bomb configuration – like we’d done in training dozens and dozens of times perfectly before.

It was a high stress situation. It was during an operational readiness exercise and we were in full chem. gear - gas masks and all. The inspectors were at our arch (bunker/hangar) watching us load live anti-tank bombs during a “hot refuel” meaning the aircraft was running and being refueled/reloaded at the same time. What could possibly go wrong?

Oh..and it was the middle of summer in Korea. Hot, sticky, can’t breathe due to chem. gear and temp/humidity, and here’s this 2-star general watching our every move to ensure we’re doing it right. And yours truly is in charge of the bomb load.

I got so busy in trying to make it perfect that I overlooked one tiny but critical element – the very first part of the checklist that tells me to double-check that the jammer rollers are in the proper configuration.

The bomb started to go up easily, and the back bomb hook clicked in with a “snap” to the rear pylon latch … almost too easily. We were rolling and lookin’ good! We might even get a perfect score out of this one, I kept thinking. I envisioned my 1st Sergeant slapping my back and buying me a beer when we were done. I gave my guys a wink and a nod through my gas mask. We were killin’ it. Now on to the front bomb hanger.

After the 2nd try, my hopes of a perfect score were dashed. The hook would not click. The jammer table moved up and down just fine, but for some dumb reason the front latch was hung up. I motioned for my jammer driver to lower the lift slowly. As he did all I remember is the bomb bouncing off the rollers…and then THUD… the bomb landed on the concrete arch floor.

“LIVE BOMB LIVE BOMB LIVE BOMB” - someone shouted - as everyone raced out of the arch at lightning speed. I counted 7 people running for their lives. It may have been more, but I was thinking 7=lucky, and I needed that right now.

Since it was a hot refuel the pilot was sitting in the cockpit – with the jet engine running and fuel truck pumping jet fuel. The aircraft crew chief got him out quickly and everyone in the arch rapidly moved far away from the bomb that fortunately didn’t explode and kill us all. We all sprinted at least 1/3 mile before anyone slowed down.

Explosive Ordinance Disposal came out and disabled the bomb…and my 2 crew members and I were immediately whisked away to meet with the Base Commander to explain why I was a 21-year-old nincompoop. Or worse, why I made him, the Base Commander, look like a nincompoop in front of his superiors. Apparently he was in the arch when it happened. I didn’t know who all was there. Didn’t care at the time. Now I did.

Just great. Here I am - a ”fast burner” Staff Sergeant (I attained rank rather quickly. All I had to do was study harder than 3/4 of my peers, pass a written test, and keep my nose clean to make quick rank at the time) who just dropped a live anti-tank/anti-personnel bomb on the ground in front of the Base Commander and the inspection team, including a 2-star Major General.

Ronald Reagan was president at the time. I often wondered if he read my name in the report.

“Didn’t you use your checklist???”, the Base Commander screamed at me. “You cost me a g.d. (It wasn’t God’s fault) promotion, you idiot!”, he fumed. I felt like crap. I probably ruined his Air Force career. Hell, maybe I ruined mine too. (fortunately I didn’t)

At that very moment this 21-yr old learned a life lesson that I will never forget.

always, Always, ALWAYS follow the checklist!

In your business are you following a checklist of safe, efficient, and proven tasks? Or are you taking a risk of “blowing up the crew” because you’re following it partially?

Do you even have a checklist? If not, do it now. For every task that’s important in your business. Just write down, in a checklist format, short tasks that you know are safe, efficient, and work every time. Things like meeting the customer, inspecting the job, pricing the job, doing the work, getting paid. Simple stuff that you do every day. Make it a system – with checklists.

Systems not only save your hide, they build value in your company.

In the bomb loading business not following the checklist may mean gravely harming or even killing innocent people. In business it could mean potentially killing your career.

Your customers are your Base Commanders. They watch what you do, whether you see them or not. They control your future. If they speak positively of you, you “make rank”. If not, you could be demoted and looked at unfavorably. Word spreads quickly and your career is in jeopardy, should you not do things right. (aka – not follow the checklist!)

Are you doing it the same way every time? Or are you overlooking steps because you have on a “chem suit”? (metaphorically – anything that would impair your senses – like you’re too busy for the little details, you’re running late for the next appointment, it’s hot, or any number of inconveniences)

Check your checklists often. Be sure they’re up to date. Don’t be like the 21-yr-old me and drop a live bomb in front of God and country. It’s dangerous, embarassing and unnecessary. Just follow the checklist!

Scott
The Big Banana of Business
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That’s my life partner – Sunny. I met her when I was a 19 yr old Cavepunk. I hit her over the head with my cavepunk club and dragged her back to my hole in the wall in 1985. For some reason she hasn’t hightailed it out of here yet, but I keep my club handy just in case.

In all seriousness, she is the most amazing, caring and wonderful girl a guy could have ever hoped to marry.

Sunny is the:

avocado to my guacamole

yin to my yang

banana to my peel

You get the point – she’s a cool chick!

In addition to assisting me with brainstorming and putting ideas into action, she also takes care of the massive amounts of paperwork and filing here at Banana Profits, LLC. Oh, and we have 2 kids too that I have plenty of stores to share, but I think I’ll save that for life and times outside of Banana Profits for the most part.

PS We go to many events together so don’t be afraid to say hi to her. If she starts telling you stories about me, don’t believe a word unless they’re good ones.

Scott