MCAS Yuma kicked off the 101 Days of Summer with its annual health and safety fair, where Marines received training and education to safely enjoy the season, May 22.
The fair is held at the beginning of the “101 Days of Summer”, the period of time when, historically, the most accidents and deaths occur among Marines and Sailors.
In 2011 the station saw 15 Class A mishaps, half involving vehicular accidents.
“The 101 Days of Summer event is between Memorial Day and Labor Day and that’s typically the time we see a big spike in recreational accidents and vehicle accidents,†said Rick Barnes, the station’s tactical safety specialist. “We have this campaign to promote safety and bring attention to it to hopefully reduce the number of accidents and mishaps during the summer vacation.â€
Two waves of Marines and Sailors schooled themselves on summer safety, with one group beginning at 8 a.m. and the other at 1 p.m. Several locations on base, the parade deck, base gym, base chapel, Sonoran Pueblo and the Dos Rios parking lot, all held different aspects of safety awareness for Marines to experience.
As part of a new initiative to go paperless and preserve resources, stick leaders took accountability of Marines via rosters, a change from recent years’ stamp sheets, according to Barnes.
The parade deck featured the majority of events, including Red Bulls trial rider Keith Wineland, currently ranked number three in the nation, and a station crash crew water competition.
Driven to Dare, which schooled personnel on driving safety, was held at the chapel, while Semper Fit held hydration safety classes at the gym.
The Sonoran Pueblo hosted the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office so they could teach boating and water safety to Marines.
A Marine with Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 competes in the push-up competition May 22, 2012 at MCAS Yuma’s “101 Days of Summer†safety fair.
