tig brief - Air Force Inspection Agency
tig brief - Air Force Inspection Agency
tig brief - Air Force Inspection Agency
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IG Bits & Pieces<br />
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell<br />
As I was going through my Don’t Ask,<br />
Don’t Tell repeal Tier I, II, and III<br />
training, a few of us were discussing<br />
the impact of this change during a break.<br />
Someone wondered aloud “will this change in<br />
policy result in more Inspector General (IG)<br />
complaints, do you think?” and “are you ready<br />
for your first IG complaint involving sexual<br />
orientation?”<br />
No and yes, I think, respectively. I don’t<br />
think IG complaints<br />
I will actively listen to the<br />
complainant allowing them to<br />
describe the wrongdoing<br />
will increase as a<br />
result of this policy<br />
change, at least not<br />
initially. One reason<br />
is, sadly, I don’t believe<br />
that gay <strong>Air</strong>men<br />
will automatically turn on a switch to trust<br />
“the system” right away enough to bring<br />
any complaints that involve this kind of<br />
discrimination to light. My sense is that it’s<br />
going to take time for gay <strong>Air</strong>men who have been<br />
told up to now that they can be gay as long as<br />
they don’t act gay to submit complaints about<br />
repercussions from them acting gay. Don’t Ask,<br />
Don’t Tell has been part of the military since<br />
1993, so for the past eighteen years, gay <strong>Air</strong>men<br />
have known that to identify themselves as gay<br />
could quite possibly bring discharge. I just don’t<br />
think gay <strong>Air</strong>men are going to start trusting the<br />
IG complaint system that quickly. I hope they’ll<br />
give the IGs the opportunity to demonstrate our<br />
core values and show that we are there to search<br />
for and identify the truth behind any complaint,<br />
no matter where that search for the truth may<br />
lead us. And not only IG staff members need<br />
to demonstrate this; commanders, supervisors,<br />
first sergeants, and EEO staff need to show they<br />
are capable of dealing successfully with sexual<br />
orientation discrimination complaints so that<br />
gay <strong>Air</strong>men have confidence in bringing this type<br />
of complaint to light.<br />
Another reason I don’t believe a change in<br />
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell will increase IG complaints<br />
is because of the children who are involved.<br />
While exact numbers are hard to come by, the<br />
2000 U.S. Census Bureau data indicates that<br />
18 Summer 2011<br />
Lt. Col. Blair Webster<br />
ANG, 107 HQ/IG<br />
Keesler AFB<br />
less than 1 percent of children in the U.S. are<br />
being raised in gay households. There aren’t<br />
as many children involved in gay relationships<br />
as there are in straight relationships, and I’ve<br />
noticed children can be a source of conflict that<br />
spills over into official IG complaints. When<br />
military members get involved in relationships<br />
that produce children, and those military<br />
member parents are not married to each other,<br />
sometimes this causes situations that trigger<br />
people to make work-<br />
related IG complaints.<br />
I’ve handled complaints<br />
about dependent care<br />
plans, felony assault,<br />
and perceived hiring<br />
discrimination, where<br />
the root cause of the complaint was a dispute<br />
over the raising of a child when the parents are<br />
not married to each other. I don’t foresee that<br />
situation increasing with the repeal of Don’t Ask,<br />
Don’t Tell.<br />
Whether or not there will be more<br />
complaints, I am ready for my first complaint<br />
brought on by a change to the Don’t Ask, Don’t<br />
Tell policy. First it’s going to take active listening<br />
to the complainant to allow them to describe the<br />
wrongdoing. Then, I’m going to ask them some<br />
questions, for example:<br />
• What, specifically, is the AFI, law, or<br />
guideline they believe is being violated?<br />
• What would they like to see done about their<br />
situation? If I had that big “make everything<br />
better,” magic wand, what would they like<br />
me to do?<br />
• Have they talked to their chain of command<br />
about their concern, and if not, why not?<br />
Then, after discussing the issue with the<br />
complainant, I’ll attempt to verify the truth<br />
surrounding their complaint and let the facts of<br />
the case lead me to the appropriate response.<br />
This is the way I handle all complaints, and I’ll<br />
handle those generated by the repeal of Don’t<br />
Ask, Don’t Tell the same way, should those<br />
complaints come my way.