European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday september 19, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 Reader comment aryan s equal Opportunity show misses Mark by Robert j. Fiore the an feedback program titled equal Opportunity was a command sponsored attempt at damage control that backfired. Reacting to the recent Public statements and official reports by the chairman of the . Commission on civil rights Arthur a. Fletcher and the . Army Europe commanders decision to publicly Challenge same a panel of three senior managers a All White a answered questions posed by Ann Mulligan the an news division chief. The desired Public relations effect was lost the minute the show began. A viewers Call remarking about the Lack of minorities on the panel put the icing on the cake. Are there no knowledgeable senior minority managers in the equal Opportunity equal employment Opportunity Fields in Usa eur that could have also appeared on the panel the panellists brought lots of statistics to the table but they never addressed the real issues that were reflected in some of the pre taped interviews and in questions called in during the show despite mulligans attempts to focus on the subject of to complaints and systems for redress. How Many interviews were taped and who decided which ones would be used is unknown to me. At least one question called in Early in the show was not asked. This left a perception of censorship with the caller since his other question was asked and answered. The unanswered question concerned the monitoring and implementation of the Usa eur affirmative action plan and How an interested party could obtain a copy. Panellist Pat Hansen Campbell chief of usage urn a civilian equal employment Opportunity office in Heidelberg Germany could certainly have provided that information. Soldiers and civilians concerns about reprisal against complainants a and the excruciatingly Long processing times from complaint to Resolution a were inadequately addressed. Col. William Ott usage urn a inspector general at he Usa eur in Heidelberg to whom too Many questions were addressed talked about inspector general regulations requiring confidentiality instead of discussing the Protection available in the to Leo systems to prevent reprisal which could have been addressed by maj. David Smith head of usage urn a equal Opportunity office at he Usa eur in Heidelberg or Hansen Campbell. As a matter of fact the uninformed viewer must have received the impression that the inspector general a office is the primary Agency for discrimination complaints. It is not and Otto a whipped Cream answers about resolving soldiers complaints concerning their pay and allotments to family members did nothing to Advance the cause of creating Soldier employee Confidence in the to Leo systems. True or not the average Soldier considers the inspector general a office to be a command controlled operation that seeks to contain problems and avoid embarrassment to commanders. Discrimination complaints including sexual harassment which is a form of discrimination should be handled by trained professionals from the to Leo offices especially since there arc important time limits to bringing such complaints to the attention of an to Leo Counselor. The explanation of the . Army civilian appellate review agents role in Leo complaint processing and investigating did not include the very pertinent fact that since the findings and recommendations by a us Acara investigator Are not binding on the command they Are often rejected when they contain findings of discrimination. This Means that the complainant must opt to have the Case heard by an equal employment Opportunity commission administrative judge whose findings Are also not binding if the department of the army chooses to object and takes one More shot at letting the commission go its Way. The whole process can take years. On the to Side Smith obviously a knowledgeable participant termed the �?o15-6 officer a a disinter editor s note the controversy Over whether discrimination exists in the . Military and civilian ranks in Europe continues in the Wake of Fletcher chairman of the us commission on civil rights. Two commentaries on that subject Are expressed Here in letters to the editor from readers of the stars and stripes who hold differing viewpoints. Cited Quot party who is appointed to investigate a soldiers  acting As an a 15-6 investigation officer requires no special knowledge of the subject under investigation. The officer conducting the investigation a often for the first time a usually has very Little training in the to Field and no special skills that make him or her an experienced investigator. If the investigation concerns a complaint of sexual harassment against another officer and knowing what a negative finding will do to an officer s career 1 leave it to the Reader to decide just How Quot disinterested the a 15-6 investigation officer will be. Another subject which was ignored during the an feedback show results and discipline. We heard a lot of statistics on the number of complaints and the percentage of cases where discrimination sexual harassment was found to have taken place but we heard nothing about the Relief to the complainant or the discipline meted out to the violator. Hansen Campbell and Smith gave exact statistics on the number of complaints filed and the percentage resolved. Ott talked about the inspector general s working approximately 10,000 cases per year 10 percent of which he indicated involved issues of discrimination. Based on those statistics the inspector general received 1,000 discrimination complaints or about the same number received by both the to and Leo offices accepting Ott s statistics As Correct it is incomprehensible that he was not Able to Tell the audience How Many complaints received by inspector general offices were resolved. A a resolved can mean that the complainant withdrew the complaint and or a settlement agreement resulted. Reprisal for filing a complaint although raised in one of the taped interviews was Only touched upon during the program and that is unfortunate since it is the fear of reprisal that prevents Many people from making complaints. The Bottom line on the 45-minute show is that it was an attempt to assure the minority populace that the army systems for handling and resolving complaints of discrimination under the control of the command arc adequate and get the Job done. The program was poorly conceived the panel inadequately staffed and the questions selected for use did not elicit answers that addressed the real concerns of the audience. The . Military has made giant Steps toward the elimination of discrimination and the advancement of minorities and women. No Section of our society is More polyglot and no other organization can match the military when it comes to proving that people of All races colors and creeds can learn to live and work together and get the Job done. I recommend that an feedback plan another show on the same topic with belter preparation and an expanded panel of experts representing both sides. Perhaps the vibes emitting from the next show will be More positive. Robert j Fiore is an attorney in Frankfurt Germany Fletcher Falls Short on leadership qualities by David w. Owen in the course of a a exposing racial discrimination among the . Forces in Europe Arthur a. Fletcher chairman of the . Commission on civil rights has highlighted a serious problem. But it is probably not the one on which he intended to focus attention. The problem i am referring to is the glaring Lack of positive leadership shown by too Many of americans Black leaders. Although he is certainly not alone in that Camp Fletcher provides an excellent example of this pervasive leadership problem. There can be Little doubt from the Way he conducted himself while Here and from his actions and statements upon returning to the United states that the Man came to Europe with an Agenda. And that Agenda included creating a splash and accruing some political advantage for himself. The truth of this is evidenced by his willingness to make irresponsible statements of a potentially inflammatory nature without the Benefit of any Type of serious investigation of the a hundreds of complaints he received. To begin with one has to doubt that he actually heard hundreds of complaints. He simply Wasny there Long enough to do that. And if he did no to have enough time to hear them then he certainly did no to have enough time to investigate and verify them. But that did not Stop him from calling his news conferences and releasing Nis statements which was totally irresponsible for a Man in his position. It certainly did not take a visit from the chairman of the . Commission on civil rights to a a exposed what every thinking american in Europe already knew. Certainly there is racial discrimination in the american military and civilian communities in Europe. And there is no question that it is also sad to say still a pervasive element of the broader american society. The dramatic difference Between the 1950s and the 1990s, which is no insignificant accomplishment is that it is no longer institutionalized discrimination. What we Are working on now As a society is changing attitudes individual by individual. That is a Long and difficult process in which All the commands of the european theater Are involved. Regrettably behaviour like Fletcher a is not Only a serious impediment to that process but has probably resulted in a real setback for All these command sponsored programs. Fletcher a tactic is an All too familiar one drawn easily from the handbook of other More prominent african american leaders. It is based on the flawed notion that everything bad that happens to a Black or in the Black Community is someone else a fault. There is an unfortunate absence of a sense of personal or Community responsibility for the ravages that Are currently afflicting America s african americans As a group. Statistics on illiteracy child pregnancies murder drug abuse etc., etc., reveal the incredible magnitude of the risk to that cultural entity. Unfortunately this regressive tactic is causing a serious erosion of White support for the goals of equal Opportunity and a truly Colo Blind society. Polls have shown a decided drop in support among while americans who previously supported the goals of integration. The reason for the drop is Clear. Many Whites Are tired of the harangues and the totally specious arguments and excuses posited by african american leaders for the problems experienced by their constituencies. While these whiles Are certainly not turning into racists they have become dispirited and their interest in and support for the goal of a fully integrated society have become decidedly lukewarm. The tactics of Fletcher and his Kindred spirits will do nothing to revitalize the support and enthusiasm that is required to get America Back on the right track to a fully integrated society. On the contrary they will continue to erode the gains made Over the past 4 1 years. Instead the Only real Chance for Success will be found in the leadership and example of people such As Gen. Colin l. Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and supreme court nominee Clarence Thomas who offer the Best Hope for the future of both the Black Community and America at Large. They Don t talk in rhymed verse or inflammatory tones but their message is certainly the soundest clearest and most Likely to produce tangible results. David w Owen la a retired army lieutenant colonel living in Stuttgart Germany