ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- For Master Sgt. Ciara Bergeron, 11th Air Task Force Weapons Safety Manager, and Technical Sgt. Stephen Hansen, 11th ATF Occupational Safety Specialist, safety is more than a duty—it’s a calling shaped by real-world experience.
“Safety isn’t a program—it’s a way of life,” Hansen said. “It’s how we protect our people and ensure mission success.”
The two-person safety team has had several opportunities to put their training into practice while deployed in support of the 11th ATF, the first U.S. Air Force air task force to deploy. For the past six months, the 11th ATF has traveled across several locations in the Pacific, and each one has presented a unique set of challenges and opportunities for Bergeron and Hansen to utilize their training to ensure Airmen stay safe and the mission can be safely accomplished.
Managing risk smartly
Hansen brings a deeply personal approach to risk management. With a firefighting background, he has witnessed the consequences of unsafe decisions and the preventable tragedies that follow. Those experiences now drive his mission to ensure every Airman—regardless of location or mission set—has the knowledge and support needed to return home safely.
Hansen oversees three major safety initiatives shaping the Air Task Force’s approach to risk: the ATF Risk Management Policy, the Risk Acceptance Threshold, and the High-Risk Activity Program. These tools standardize how the 11th ATF identifies hazards, accepts risk and mitigates threats, especially as the 11th ATF has served as the “first in” at emerging deployment sites, ranging from an austere location in Saipan to an already established U.S. military base in the Republic of Korea.
The High-Risk Activity Program focuses on education rather than restriction. The program ensures Airmen understand the risks associated with activities like water sports or adventure recreation and confirm they are properly trained and equipped to participate. Hansen noted that simple activities often carry the highest risk, especially in unfamiliar locations like Saipan, Korea and Guam. He emphasized learning from past incidents to prevent future ones, highlighting gaps in equipment, awareness, and training, and said that effective safety relies on leadership buy-in, communication and proper resourcing.
Additionally, Hansen is developing a comprehensive risk-management framework for not just the 11th ATF but also future ATFs. The framework is focused on safeguarding Airmen, enabling smart decision-making and preserving mission readiness across diverse operating environments. His hope is to develop a holistic risk-management culture across the entire Air Force.
“Complacency is the biggest vulnerability,” he said. “The loss of a single Airman affects mission readiness. It’s about managing risk smartly, not avoiding it. These policies and programs give guidance—not limits—to help Airmen choose the safest path.”
Going the distance
As a weapons safety manager, Bergeron deals with anything involving explosives—from bullets to bombs—and ensures material is stored at a safe location and safe distance from other assets. In the 11th ATF’s case, that included ammunition, chaff and an explosive ordnance disposal kit.
" I'm there to prevent mishap, regulate operations involving explosives and oversee all explosive activities to prevent destruction or damage to members, equipment, and facilities," Bergeron said.
Bergeron’s job is extremely detail-oriented because she builds a comprehensive picture so that a commander can make an informed decision when accepting risk. Often, that involves a site survey to scout out where a unit will be operating. For Saipan, this wasn’t possible, so she worked with the 36th Wing’s weapons safety team out of Andersen Air Force Base, who traveled to Saipan to do the survey for her.
Because the 11th ATF operated at an austere location outside a civilian airfield in Saipan, Bergeron needed to set up four explosive storage locations, each with their own requirements depending on the type of stored explosives. For the EOD kit, Bergeron coordinated with Pacific Air Forces, Air Combat Command, the 36th Wing and even the U.S. Navy to obtain an EOD magazine: a specialized, secure storage location for EOD kits. Even so, the magazine had to be placed at an exact location, with its door facing a certain way, to ensure precise spatial metrics were met.
“Determining appropriate distances is the crux of my job, whether that’s loading a jet, storing ammo or people building bombs,” Bergeron said. “My job is to minimize risk as much as possible.”
Some of Bergeron’s other responsibilities throughout the deployment included ensuring storage facilities and hardened aircraft structures were properly grounded, conducting spot checks, coordinating with other unit’s weapons safety teams as necessary during events that involved explosives, and even filling a flight safety role at one point to ensure aircraft were properly grounded as well.
Whether she’s operating on a fully operational military base or an open field outside a civilian runway, Bergeron is committed to keeping Airmen safe and completing the mission as safely as possible.
“Safety has got to be first and foremost in everything,” she said.