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Rule book resentment

During the past several months, there has been a sequence of letters in Air Force Times regarding dress and appearance standards. It started with a chief master sergeant’s reasonable proposition to tighten physical training standards, progressed to a junior noncommissioned officer wondering why there is a fixation with minutiae, and it continued with a senior NCO lecturing junior NCOs on the importance of maintaining standards — even the small ones. Each set forth some valid points, but I want to focus the issue on one thing the chief said: “Erase the ambiguity.”

I understand the need to have people look professional, and I have witnessed junior NCOs not enforcing standards. However, these are red herring issues.

The problem is that the PT uniform standard is so lax that unit commanders feel the need to come up with supplementary rules for their location. These supplementary rules have a detrimental effect on morale and decrease good order and discipline.

I’ll submit that a few supplementary rules can be beneficial, but do we really need to mandate the height of athletic socks on one base in the middle of a desert? Maybe, but if the reason isn’t apparent to the run-of-the-mill airman, it will seem pointless, harassing and create resentment, especially if the airman now has to buy new socks at a poorly stocked base exchange.

In my limited junior NCO experience, I’ve seen the effect of resentment in the form of people doing exactly what you tell them — and nothing more. It destroys initiative and loyalty. In a shrinking force, resentment can destroy our mission effectiveness.

The Air Force can be seen as either a cold, faceless rule book or a family of dedicated men and women. If we are always coming up with yet another rule, our airmen will lose sight of the family because junior NCOs are constantly correcting even the best-intentioned airmen.

I hope we do tighten up the wear standards on PT gear primarily to promote consistency.

In Airman Leadership School, I was taught to set the standard, then enforce it. Our airmen are suffering way too many “gotcha” moments when they are caught not following standards somebody made up on the fly. That’s why they feel harassed. The Air Force rule book is plenty strict; we just need to enforce the existing rules in a way that is fair.