European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday september 29, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 3 give system a Chance of says a a a a t 1 by Rosemary Sawyer staff writer Ramstein a Germany although airmen risk reprisals when coming Forward with harassment and discrimination complaints the problems will never be resolved if they Don to air Force social actions officials say. A a it a a risk. Anytime you go up against anybody its a risk a said capt. Rosalyn Brown chief of equal Opportunity and treatment for . Air forces Europe. She acknowledged that reprisal is possible if someone makes a complaint. A most people will try to work it through the Chain of command in most cases and if they can to then  come Over to us a Brown said. She said her office will take the complaint to the command if an individual indicates a tear of doing so on his or her own. Officials with a Safe a equal Opportunity inspector general and equal employment Opportunity offices recently explained systems to handle discrimination and harassment complaints from air Force personnel. Requests to interview inspector general and equal employment Opportunity leaders with . Army in Europe were denied. The air Force discussion followed a visit to Germany in August by Arthur Fletcher during which the . Civil rights commission chairman criticized the Way military systems handle civil rights problems. Fletcher said he perceived Many service members feared they would damage their careers by speaking out about injustices. It is in the Best interest of the air Force for airmen to give the system a Chance said it. Col. Robert b. Brady director of the commands social actions directorate. A if someone is discriminating if people done to Point it out the system can to do anything about it and the behaviour is going to go on a Brady said. A a we re very fortunate. We have some really Sharp people out there and a amps Jim Derheim it. Col. Robert b. Brady \ these Are trained  they re going to Tell it like it is said Brown referring to the 27 equal Opportunity technicians she supervises. She feels strongly she said that the technicians will try to Correct any problems brought to their attention. Not technicians hold staff sergeant to master sergeant ranks. So a visit to their office  be intimidating. Brown said. A a a we re not talking about some general officer sitting there saying a come and talk to me and Tell me All your problems a a Brady said. A these Are trained people and i Tell you people in the not business done to just come into  Brady said during fiscal year 1990, 117 of the 223 discrimination and harassment complaints filed by Safe personnel were confirmed. Most of these complaints involved racial discrimination or sexual harassment. Fourteen discrimination cases were handled through Safe inspector general offices because they included other allegations not related to discrimination. Of these 14, two were partially sub Stan a amps Jim Hertiel capt. Rosalyn Brown. We have some really Sharp  tinted and 12 were unsubstantiated said Diane r. Williams a Safe a Deputy director of 1g complaints. The inspector general a office normally refers discrimination complaints to equal employment Opportunity or equal Opportunity and treatment offices unless the complaint concerns How either of those offices conducted their investigations said col. Richard s. Castle Safe Deputy inspector general. In depth investigations into discrimination complaints Are done by appointed officers of rank equal to or higher than the person being investigated. Commanders determine whether discrimination occurred based on their reports. Investigative officers Are treed of their regular duties when assigned to investigate a discrimination complaint. Equal Opportunity specialists give the Otti cars explicit instructions on How to conduct the probe and Monitor the entire process Brady said. A once the investigation is done. Social actions then does what is called a technical review to ensure that every allegation is fully addressed a Brady said. Alter a a amps. Jim Dpi his in col. Richard s. Castle. The right thing to  Legal review the report goes to the appropriate commander usually the Wing or base commander Lor base level cases. Brady said he sees no problem with commanders determining whether discrimination occurred and what action should be taken. A i think most of the time they make the right decision and they take the appropriate action Quot Brady said. Castle too. Said he believed in integrity of commanders. �?o1 can assure you that commanders do not disregard formal investigations. The commanders of the commanders hold them responsible for taking the proper action in cases like this and there a always the possibility that it the commander docs the wrong thing that hell lose his or her Job. And that docs occasionally  that does no to mean commanders always accept All the report s verbatim recommendations a because that s what we pay our commanders Lor sometimes is to judge what is the right thing to do a Castle said. Controversy welcomed by to adviser i 4rt11iiitin in Terv without Nihil la by John Millar Wurzburg Bureau Fulda Germany sgt. 1st class Michael Josey believes that allegations of rampant discrimination throughout the . Army in Europe Are exaggerated. But he welcomes the limelight his program is getting As a result. Josey is the equal Opportunity adviser Lor the army s Vii corps in Stuttgart Germany. Such complaints Josey said a expose problems that made a lot of people think and make commanders go Back and take a look. Josey was among the More than 50 enlisted army advisers working on the ground level of Usa eur s equal Opportunity program who attended a quarterly meeting for v corps equal Opportunity advisers held in Fulda on thursday. The enlisted advisers receive soldiers complaints of civil rights violations and make recommendations to commanders on How to resolve them. The recent report to the . Civil rights commission by chairman Arthur Fletcher alleging widespread civil rights violations within the . European come was not addressed at the meeting. But several advisers who attended the professional development session discussed the Issue with the stars and stripes. The timing for the controversy  have been better Josey said. A it happened in a time where they Are cutting a lot of slots in equal Opportunity. We will lose some Here and never get them Back a Josey said. A at the same time commanders will say we need equal Opportunity. A let s put them advisers to work a a he said. The controversy he said Quot did a lot of Good things. It Girt a lot of the right people worried and i Hope the program is on the rebound. Several advisers blamed army leadership Lor Many of the service s equal Opportunity problems both real and perceived even if leaders do not actually practice disc rim it happened in a time where they Are cutting a lot of slots in equal Opportunity. We will lose some Here and never get them Back a sgt. 1 St class Michael Josey Vii corps equal Opportunity adviser nation. Some commanders and senior non commissioned officers Are not willing to talk with soldiers often brushing aside their complaints and concerns with Little or no comment said sgt. 1st class Kirk Smith an equal Opportunity adviser for the 3rd inf div in a Schattenburg Germany. Others Smith said a maintain a provoking and intimidating environment where an individual is not willing to speak his mind.�?�,. Both situations said sgt. 1st class Graig Yarbrough Lead to perceptions of discrimination because soldiers Are afraid to speak up and feedback from command is nonexistent. Quot to is a leadership  said Yarbrough an to adviser for the Wurzburg base support in a and my experience in the last two years has been that commanders do not want to accept that  until they do Yarbrough said Quot not a whole lot is going to get done. Where you Hae commanders who Are not doing their Joh in that area and you be got those perceptions out there that Are not being dealt with that s just As real As if it were  another adviser alleged that some army leaders practice equal Opportunity in theory without and dissing the subject on a personal level. A they make up equal Opportunity policy letters and Slick them on the Board. That a not equal Opportunity a said master sgt. Raymond Harris to adviser for the Stuttgart military Community. A when was the last time commanders got up and personally addressed their troops on what equal Opportunity is a Harris said. A leaders have to get personally involved not just pay lip  when to advisers receive a complaint. Smith said they must take it to the Soldier s Chain of command. After reviewing the situation with unit leaders advisers recommend what course of action a commander can take to resolve the problem be it real or perceived. Complaints generally Are referred Back to a Soldier s Chain of command to solve the problem at the lowest level. A most of the time  take care of it because we re involved. But Many times they May not a Josey said of unit leaders. And sometimes he said soldiers do suffer reprisals for going to to advisers with problems. It Clear communication and firm leadership could solve Many real and perceived instances of discrimination Josey said adding that some units continue to have problems Quot because the commander is too stubborn to do anything about in. And it s ins res Ponisi n i but the problem is probably less acute than i he tiers claim of hundreds of complaints won id mud a Sescial advisers said. Smith said he believed that Thuc Imi badly were a a substantial a nuni Bei of eases to Senor Fletcher s report of widespread Uvil rights Al n e. Quot but hundreds i doubt. T t Roop reductions within the Las sea have spin u d Many to complaints several advise s said i he it a Iso noted that a Laige  of  have not been valid