When the Air Force’s top enlisted leader wrote an open letter to Airmen focusing on professional standards in June, the memo drew mixed reactions. Some Airmen thanked her for addressing issues of concern about grooming and behavior standards; others questioned the memo’s timing and wondered why she didn’t shed more light on specifics.
“History shows that when standards erode, military capabilities and readiness decline,” Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass wrote in the letter, posted on Facebook on June 20. “We can’t afford to let this happen and still expect to keep pace with the rapid expansion of the Chinese military, Russian aggression, and other emerging global challenges.”
In an exclusive interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine, Bass said there was no particular instance or issue that prompted her memo, but that questions about discipline and even when and how to correct other Airmen came up regularly as she travelled around the force.
“All healthy organizations, all strong teams, [need to] take a step back and reflect on what is good and what things they can do to continue to get better at their profession and at their trade,” she said in the interview. “There wasn’t one thing that triggered this, it really was more, ‘Hey, we’ve got to always police ourselves up to make sure that we remember that we are part of a profession of arms and that we are holding ourselves to a higher standard than an everyday American.’”
Bass joined the Air Force amidst the post-Gulf War drawdown in the 1990s, a time of significant change in the force. Bass cited two deadly accidents, among them the accidental shoot down of two Army helicopters and a fatal B-52 crash which raised fears of a “hollow force.” At that time, the Air Force was rapidly getting smaller and a series of sexual harassment and related scandals across the military services had highlighted the growing role of women in the military. Congress and the White House negotiated what would come to be called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the easing of rules that had formerly barred gay men and women from military service.
That’s when then-Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald Fogleman applied the Air Force Academy’s Core Values to the entire service, and with his personnel chief, Lt. Gen. Billy Boles, published the service’s original “Little Blue Book.”
The Air Force of today is also juggling change, undergoing a massive modernization push, developing new concepts like Agile Combat Employment, and gearing up for a different kind of security posture in which China looms as a peer and pacing military threat. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic, polarizing politics, and rapidly changing societal attitudes, including toward military service, are posing new challenges to the force.
Major changes to appearance standards, including looser regulations over hair length, color, and accessories, mustaches, tattoos, uniforms, morale patches, handbags, physical fitness, and even new rules allowing Airmen to stand with hands in pockets have generated controversy, particularly among old timers.
“The past five years there have been so many changes, it’s hard to keep up,” one security forces master sergeant told Air & Space Forces Magazine, on condition his name would be withheld. “As a senior NCO, trying to keep up with the new standards, if you make the wrong correction now you look like you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Bass said she is well aware of such concerns.
“I have absolutely heard from our Airmen that there are too many changes … and they don’t know what those standards are,” she said. “What I would offer is, we cannot rationalize that ‘there are too many changes and that’s why we can’t uphold standards.’ We, as Airmen, absolutely know what right is and what right looks like, and [if unsure] we can look up what those standards are.”
One Airman told Air & Space Forces Magazine that he worried he might be accused of being racist or sexist if he tried to enforce particular grooming and appearance standards. Asked about that concern, Bass said the key is to enforce standards fairly and with respect.
“If you’re being fair, just, and true, then good order and discipline is going to prevail,” she said. Airmen should not be afraid to share high expectations and to hold each other accountable.
“We can’t be afraid to do those things,” Bass said. “That gets back to being a disciplined force…. [NCOs] just have to be fair and you can do so in a way that is respectful.”
Times are always changing, and generations are always shifting. Bass urged that it’s important to remember that and try to understand the world as younger Airmen see it.
“When I was a young Airman 30 years ago, I remember the folks who’d been in a long time talked about my generation and how we lacked standards,” Bass said. “So it’s interesting how history repeats itself. … I’m excited for this generation, because this generation is going to help us get after and tackle some of the toughest challenges that we’ve ever had, and we need to make sure that we cultivate the landscape so that they’re able to be the best versions of themselves.”
Bass said her letter was intended to remind Airmen of the rigid discipline required to be the best Air Force in the world, the best possible warfighting organization. “We must set high standards and execute to them because the line between average and elite airpower is razor thin,” she wrote. “In our profession, second-best won’t cut it.”
The objective is to ensure the U.S. Air Force can win wars and what will make that possible is the core values and high standards that helped build that force in the first place, Bass said. But she admitted those issues may not always be at the front of every junior Airman’s mind.
“When I was young Airman Bass, I wasn’t necessarily reflecting on core values, I was just trying to do my job and do it well,” she said. “But as leaders, it’s important to understand the broader picture. … This uniform is a reminder to myself that this is a commitment to duty, it’s a profession of arms, and in that we must hold ourselves to higher standards.”
Among the deadly mishaps in 1994 that prompted Fogleman’s focus on values was a deadly friendly fire incident in which two Air Force F-15 pilots mistook two Army Black Hawk helicopters for Iraqi aircraft, and shot them down. The helicopters were carrying international military and diplomatic officials over Iraq; all 26 on board were killed. The Government Accountability Office concluded that discipline problems in the F-15 community at the time played a role in the incident.
That same year, a B-52 pilot flying over Washington state took the bomber beyond its operational limits, losing control of the aircraft, and killing all four officers aboard.
“When leadership fails and a command climate breaks down, tragic things can happen,” Air Force Maj. Tony Kern wrote in a 1995 case study about the crash. “This is the story of failed leadership and a command climate which had degenerated into an unhealthy state of apathy and non-compliance—a state which contributed to the tragic crash.”
Those events played a role in the original rollout of the Air Force Blue Book, which codified the branch’s three core values: Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence In All We Do.
“The small things led to bigger things,” Bass said. “We can’t ever allow ourselves to go back.”
Still, tying the styling of hair to safety seems a stretch to some Airmen. An aircraft armaments master sergeant who spoke with Air & Space Forces Magazine noted that in his experience, different career fields adhere to grooming standards differently.
“What gets me is this assumption that if you have a slip up in grooming standards then you’re going to slip up at work,” said the master sergeant, who asked not to be named publicly. “Correlation doesn’t always equal causation.”
For her part, Bass emphasized that standards are about professionalism: taking pride in the service means embracing the rules as they exist and applying them fairly and consistently to the Airmen around you. Bass argued that attitude is key to ensuring the Air Force remains the best in the world.
Unlike those crashes, Bass said her letter had no single triggering event. “We needed just a quick vector check,” she said. “And we needed to put that out there for all Airmen.”