CoRC: Equal opportunity, zero tolerance are more than buzz words Published Oct. 23, 2008 By Johnny Jones 341st Missile Wing Equal Opportunity officer MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- Editor's Note: This is the fourth article in an on-going monthly series of articles focusing on a wide array of topics that fall under the Culture of Reponsible Choices Umbrella. How motivated would you be to do your job to the best of your abilities knowing you are going to be treated unfairly? Whether you are military or civilian this is one of our core values along with integrity and service before self, which makes equal opportunity a military necessity. It provides today's all-volunteer force access to the widest possible pool of qualified men and women. It allows the Department of Defense to train and assign military members and civilians according to the needs of the Service. It guarantees men and women will be judged by their individual merit, fitness and performance, not by race, religion, color, national origin or sex and for civilians, it also includes age or disability. Many complain about political correctness and having to change his or her behavior because someone new joins the work center. Those who feel this way are correct. You should not have to be politically correct or change your behavior because the demographics of your work center changed. You should ask yourself where in the Air Force "Zero Tolerance" policy does it stipulate, "Except in the presence of _______" or "this only applies to ______ career fields." In addition, the next questions should be "if everyone is responsible for enforcing the policy then why have I been violating or allowing the 'zero tolerance' policy to be violated?" Speckles of tolerance have made a home in our work force through the lack of individual enforcement. Daily we see our peers, supervisors and others in leadership positions accepting or condoning minor equal opportunity infractions. I often open my class with "how many of you are sexual harassers or discriminators?" The response is generally overwhelming. Many do not realize how a simple joke, comment or the forwarding of an e-mail can be a direct violation. You do not have to be a card-carrying member of a civil rights organization to understand that acts of unlawful discrimination, sexual harassment and disparate treatment are mission distracters. What we must understand is this behavior jeopardizes combat readiness by lowering morale, weakening interpersonal bonds, instigating distrust, eroding unit cohesion and threatening good order and discipline. An organizational climate poisoned by bias sets member against member and undermines institutional allegiance. Quality of life, as we know it, is supported by comprehensive and reliable systems for addressing human relations issues and for investigating and resolving unlawful discrimination complaints. Such systems provide a visible symbol of organizational commitment to equality and fair treatment, education and training, counseling support and assistance to complainants when equal opportunity violations occur. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following steps should help you deal with those minor day-to-day situations: - If you are in a leadership or supervisory position, ensure you set the example and enforce the zero tolerance policy regardless of your personal feelings. - If you feel a friend or coworker has violated the policy, inform that individual his or her behavior is unacceptable and if they continue, inform your chain of command. - If you are accused of offending someone, stop the behavior and apologize immediately. - If you are in a command or supervisory position and become aware of a violation, you MUST take action to address the situation. - If all else fails, contact the Equal Opportunity office at 731-4525 for assistance. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Re-emphasizing zero tolerance The Air Force and Malmstrom AFB pride themselves on resolving issues at the lowest possible level. By doing so reinforces reliance in the chain of command and the restoration of good order and discipline. Therefore, every member regardless of rank, position, status, race, religion, national origin, sex, age or disability should do his or her part to ensure the "zero" is never left off the tolerance when it comes to the enforcement of equal opportunity. When there are people problems, morale suffers and when morale suffers, the mission suffers.