Motorcycles on and around Offutt: What you need to know

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. James McLean
  • 55th Wing Safety
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  Motorcycle riding is an increasingly popular mode of transportation. With spring here and summer around the corner, it has become all the more appealing.

It is surprising the number of Air Force and other military personnel who ride and are unfamiliar with Air Force and Department of Defense regulations and requirements. If a rider is in the U.S. military, the individual must attend a Motorcycle Safety Foundation certified course, before being authorized to ride on or off base and on or off duty, which includes test driving any motorcycle.

Air Force Instruction 91-207, the U.S. Air Force Traffic Safety Program, states that all new riders and personnel arriving at a new installation are required to have a safety briefing within 30 days of arrival with their unit commander. Here at Offutt, we offer a variety of motorcycle courses. The courses offered are; Basic Riders Course, Basic Riders Course 2, Advanced Riders Course, and the Military Sport Bike Riders Course. All classes are taught by MSF certified RiderCoaches. BRC and BRC2 are license-waiver classes. Motorcycles are provided for the BRC and participants must use their own properly registered bikes for the other three classes.

A license-waiver means that if you take your MSF completion card to the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles, they will put a motorcycle endorsement on your Nebraska driver's license and you may be eligible for a discount from your motorcycle insurance company. You will be exempt from taking the written or road test at the Nebraska DMV if you bring them an MSF completion card from a Nebraska certified RiderCoach. If your license is from out of state, please check with your state's DMV on their requirement to get the motorcycle endorsement on your driver's license. Don't forget, according to the Nebraska Motorcycle Operator Manual, you are not legal to ride your motorcycle until after you get the endorsement on your driver's license. The MSF card alone is not authority to ride.

Air Force military and civilian personnel will not be required to pay for or use annual leave for training per AFI 91-207. There is no reimbursement for training taken off base for these members. Authorized dependents, retiree's and contractors can take the course as well, but on space available basis with a check made out to the National Safety Council brought to the first day of class. The course rates for authorized dependants, retiree's and contractors are BRC - $189, BRC2 - $109, ARC - $79 and MSRC - $79. To get registered for training or to get the class schedule, you must go through your unit motorcycle safety representative. The wing safety office will not register members for motorcycle training; however, we are here if you have any questions.

There is a lot of good information and training that will be acquired while attending the courses, such as learning techniques and maneuvers to help become better, safer riders. Mandatory personal protective equipment requirements for all active duty personnel at any time, on or off a DoD installation, all civilian personnel on a DoD installation or in a duty status when off a DoD installation, and all persons at any time on an Air Force installation is a helmet meeting U.S. Department of Transportation standards with face shield or goggles, meeting American National Standards Institute standards, long sleeve shirt, long pants, over-the ankle boots, and full-fingered gloves. Garments must be highly visible during the day and reflective at night.

As fun as a motorcycle can be, it also can be very dangerous. According to the Air Force mishap reporting database, the Air force incurred 16 fatal motorcycle mishaps, six of those were alcohol related, and three permanent partial disabilities, loss of limb/paralysis, since March 1. Overall, the Air Force has incurred 236 reportable motorcycle mishaps in the past year. The average motorcycle mishap involved a male, between the ranks of airman 1st class and staff sergeant with an average age of 28. Mishaps predominantly occurred during the day and usually involved speeding. Another factor pointed out by the Air Force Safety Center was limited experience due to a lack of training.

"I recall the advice Gen. Philip Breedlove, current Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force and most senior ranking motorcycle rider in the Air Force, gave me before purchasing my first motorcycle," said Brig. Gen. Donald Bacon, 55th Wing commander who is an avid motorcycle rider. "'Ride like an old man...and you'll get to become an old man,' those words have stuck with me every time I go riding, and I would like to pass on this little bit of wisdom so more airmen can 'live to be old men.'"

For class information, motorcycle enthusiasts should contact their unit motorcycle safety representative.