22 ARW Commander's Corner

  • Published
  • By Col. Joel Jackson
  • 22 ARW/CC
January 10, 2014 --  Organizational Climate in the New Year

I would like to welcome everyone back to work after the holidays. I hope you all enjoyed some much deserved time off and are ready to get 2014 underway. I am excited about the great things I know are in store for Team McConnell this year.

2014 will be a busy year for the Air Force and our Wing. Many changes will be taking effect, the first of which, are the new OPR, EPR and feedback forms. The new forms specifically address organizational climate. Organizational climate is the way unit members perceive and characterize their unit environment. Ideally each unit has an environment where every member of the unit can thrive and is treated with dignity and respect. It is important to remember that organizational climate is everyone's responsibility, not just the commander's or the superintendent's. As such, it is now mandatory to discuss your impact on organizational climate during formal feedback sessions and to evaluate your impact on a healthy organizational climate on your annual OPR or EPR.

It is every Airman's responsibility to ensure a healthy climate built on the foundation of dignity and respect and free of sexual assault, harassment and any type of discrimination. An unhealthy organizational climate is unacceptable as it not only threatens unit cohesion but also threatens our ability to carry out the mission. We should all be doing everything in our power to ensure we are adhering to and enforcing standards to create a healthy unit environment.

I continue to be impressed daily by your professionalism and the hard work you do and I am excited to recognize some of our best and brightest at the Annual Awards Ceremony on January 24th. Our Command Chief, CMSgt Wright, will be our guest speaker and I'm sure his speech will be one you don't want to miss. It is a great accomplishment to be nominated for an annual award and I hope to see many of you there supporting and cheering on your Wingmen...they have worked hard to get to this level and deserve your support.

I would also like to congratulate the following individuals and teams on their outstanding performance and recognition at the MAJCOM level and wish them luck as they compete at the Air Force level.

Capt Jeremiah Gottberg (22 AMXS) - AMC's Lieutenant General Leo Marquez Award nominee
SMSgt Chad Heithoff (22 MXS) - AMC's Lieutenant General Leo Marquez Award nominee
Capt Michael Cox (349 ARS) - AMC's Spirit of Hope Award Military Program nominee
22 ARW Public Affairs Office - AMC's Best Issues Management Award
SrA Katrina Brisbin (22 ARW) - AMC's Public Affairs Outstanding Airman of the Year
SSgt Alex Farver (22 ARW) - AMC's Public Affairs Outstanding NCO of the Year

Weekly Sexual Assault Story to Learn From:

Base: Laughlin AFB, TX

Synopsis: A male A1C was drinking with other male and female Airmen in his dorm room. A female Airman became intoxicated and vomited. One of the Airmen helped her change her clothes and left her passed out on the male A1C's floor. The victim woke up with no memory of the previous night, but felt physically assaulted. The male A1C admitted to sexually assaulting the victim.

Trial Results: On 28 Sep 13, at a general courts martial, the male A1C was convicted of sexual assault and dereliction of duty by providing alcohol to a minor.

Sentence: The male A1C was sentenced to confinement for 6 months, a dishonorable discharge, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction in grade to E-1.

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If you would like to talk to someone at the SARC office, please contact them at 759-3048.

Upcoming Events:
16 Jan - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Breakfast, Dole Center Ballroom, 0700-0830
20 Jan - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
24 Jan - Annual Awards Banquet, Dole Center Ballroom, 1800-2200
31 Jan - Wing Promotion Ceremony, Base Theater, 1500