Air Force Reservists Reject Uniform Rule
DCMilitary.com ^ | 10.01.07 | Bryant Jordan

The Air Force Reserve may be an unrivaled wingman to the active duty force, but it's also a conflicted one right now, with air reserve technicians angry over a new policy mandating daily uniform wear on the job.

And that's prompted some to increasingly talk like the union members many are.

Bristling at the new regs, some reservists intend to pressure the Air Force into scrubbing the new uniform policy - a demand that could have a ripple effect on Air Force missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Stop volunteering for Air Expeditionary Force rotations" is the call rebel Air Force reservists are making.

"We've got to do something to get their attention," said Master Sgt. Jerry Merrill, a KC-135 crew chief at March Air Reserve Base, Calif., and vice president of local 3854 of the American Federation of Government Employees.

Calls to boycott AEFs have been posted in a handful of messages included in an online petition against the policy, and Merrill believes reserve Airmen could begin acting on them.

"We're obligated to do a certain amount" of deploying, he said, but the reserve techs "may be less cooperative with their free time. I would say everyone is behind the war on terror, but we can't be stomped on and have this thing rammed down our throats."

There are more than 8,000 enlisted Air Force Reserve technicians - civil service employees whose civilian job and reserve job essentially are the same - of which more than 6,600 are union members.

As a condition of employment, they serve as reserve Airmen. But except when they're doing their one-weekend-a-month or two-weeks-a-year of duty, or when they are called up or volunteer for active duty, they are civilians.

But the Reserve Command in April notified the union that a change was coming, that all reserve technicians would be required to wear the Air Force uniform whenever they're on the job. Several references to the need for good order and discipline in the original letter suggested to many reservists that the change was connected to discipline problems - a claim that Reserve Command chief Lt. Gen. John Bradley later denied.

Bradley has said the change reflects the professionalism of the Reserve Command and is in keeping with its continuing and expanding role as a full partner with the active duty Air Force.

The change became effective Aug. 7 for reserve techs who are not union members. Others may wear the uniform at work if they wish - which has always been an option - or they can hold out until their next contract is finalized, when Bradley says it will be made a condition of employment.

Bradley, the prime mover behind the new policy, has regularly stressed the importance of the Reserve to Air Force operations worldwide.

"We have a better Air Force Reserve today than we've ever had," he said. "I cannot live without them. … And I want them to understand that I appreciate them for that and we need them to keep doing that in the future."

Mark Gibson, a labor relations specialist for AFGE, could not agree more about the Reserve's importance to the overall mission, but he maintains the new policy threatens the force and the mission. It hurts the reserve technicians morale, could cause many who have long years of experience to leave, and could mean fewer techs volunteering to flesh out AEFs.

"This thing is blowing up in the Air Force Reserve's face and they're going to seriously damage that program," Gibson said. Boycotting AEFs, he said, is "a subject that a lot of Air Force Reservists don't want to be public about, but I know a lot have talked about it."

Gibson knows that, ultimately, the Reserve Command can impose the new policy in a future contract, which is why he is urging members to contact their congressional delegations. Only Congress can really turn it around, he said.

An online petition currently "signed" - many signatories do not include their full names - by more than 2,600 people includes a number of calls to stop volunteering for the AEFs or other assignments, even overtime.

The reserve command, wrote one, "relies a lot on volunteers and as we all know, many of these volunteers come from 'undisciplined' [air reserve technicians]. Next time they want you to do overtime, turn them down."

Still, even some reserve techs critical of the uniform policy doubt a halt on volunteering will change anything and that only Congress can reverse it.

"If you don't write your representative and senators, you will have nobody to blame but yourself," one wrote. "Any of you who decide to quit over this will be replaced by some young kid, fresh off [active duty] who has been wearing his uniform for the last four years. He won't care about this issue."

Bradley, however, while saying last month that the Air Force is seeking congressional support for the new policy, said the decision is final. Discussions the Reserve is having with collective bargaining units across the country essentially are about informing them of the policy and how it will affect them.

"I'm trying to figure out ... what a bad impact this is," he said. "It's not a bad impact. It's going to be a good impact. I want people to look at the big picture, look at something besides themselves