The Importance Of Risk Management In The Army

The Army has identified risk management as a process that when properly planned and applied will serve to maintain combat power while ensuring the accomplishment of the mission (atp 5-19, 2014). While there are different inherent risks related to conducting combat operations, the process and principles of risk management for most organizations remain the same; to assist in making informed decisions in order to reduce or offset risks. According to Horcher (2015), operational risk can be attributed to the organization’s activities as they are influenced by people, processes, and technology, therefore risk management is most effective when it is part of a strategic vision and receives the proper amount of leader oversight. In January of 2014 an aging storage tank situated on the banks of the Elk River in West Virginia, developed a one inch hole that ultimately dumped over 7,500 gallons of a coal-cleaning chemical into the river. This spill contaminated the densely populated capitol area of the state affecting over 300,000 residents (Gatewood & Williams, 2014). A clear lack of oversight led to a breakdown in people, processes, and technology however, would most likely have been avoided had risk management and basic safety …show more content…
Leaders must ensure that employees receive and understand risk management as it relates to their duties and responsibilities. The development of internal controls and training scenarios which rehearse potential events and actions that employees are required to complete, thereby enhances preparedness and could have greatly reduced or even prevented this chemical spill. Once established controls must be monitored and enforced in order to avoid employees taking short cuts leading to a potential