Posted on 04/05/2012 6:29:42 AM PDT by jagusafr
Just finished my annual online "Human Relations" training and had to come to FR to vent. Guess what the first example listed of "workplace violence" was? Right: Maj Hasan at Ft Hood. These people have the unmitigated call to lump this traitorous murdering coward in with incidents that involve love triangles and disgruntled employees. I wish I thought anybody with any clout would care about my outrage, but they'd probably want to start keeping an eye on ME...
I came to the conclusion many years ago that the only thing HR departments concentrate on is justifying their existence. They need to go back to the old personnel departments.
The term “human relations” is in itself aggravating.
What else are you guys dealing with? Dogs? Cats? Martians (Groom Lake personnel only)?
I popped smoke in January 2005 after 23 1/2 years, and at that lamented at how much the Air force had been destroyed by Political Correctness and the Clinton years.
The last 7 years as a Government Contractor has just deppened those feelings of sadness and resentment as I have watched what is left of the Air Force degenerate in to a PC joke where everyone is afraid to say anything about anything and everyone just tiptoes around all subjects.
GOne are the days of Friday afternoon ‘beer calls’ at the ‘alternate command post’, smoke em if you got em, etc etc.
Today you have to have JAG approval and fill out 4 gazillion forms just to have a squadron picnic, and you are not allowed to have any alcohol or anyone smoking and people are not even allowed to bring their own beer. Now they have even prohibited alcohol at the softball fields. (SIGH!) But they continue to ask all our great airmen to be deployed constantly, put up with silly PC regs, etc etc.
And then the powers that be scratch their heads over why retention rates have plummeted and send out ‘surveys’ to find out why morale is at an all time low.
In my career I worked for 3 large organizations in management positions and ultimately as Corporate Director of Engineering with responsibilities for 70+ plants world wide.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER believe for a nano-second that HR has any concern for you. They do their best to make you believe this but they are doing their job and that is keeping the troops in line for the least amount of money. If they are good at HR then they are doing a good job for the company. They are not your friend.
This is not sour grapes as I still have an affinity for my former employers and left on good terms. But, I know from being in Corporate management, HR is simply doing their job.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Even “traitorous murdering coward”s have a Mom! It’s just that Hasan’s Mom has four legs, barks and wears a flea collar.
Check the HR policies on how to deal with workplace violence. Many places flag “gun owner” and some flag “inappropriate criticism of company policies”.
This one implies that terrorism is indeed workplace violence:
“Violence in the workplace ranges from threats, intimidation, coercion, harassment, assault, hostages, suicide or
homicide. These violent or potentially violent situations may develop internally among the existing workforce or
externally, i.e., former employees, spouses, associates, civil unrest, terrorists, etc. Recognizing indicators of
potentially violent behavior or situations will be a part of every manager’s and supervisor’s core training. Ideally,
potentially violent individuals or volatile conditions will be recognized, defused or contained before the situation
escalates. The Gruntwell Corporation Violence Team’s responsibility is to ensure these situations are recognized, reported, and to the extent
possible defused, contained or brought under immediate control, and all infrastructure is in place to deal with
situations that may develop.”
A few weeks ago I saw a “double-block-filler” with her hair a full six inches out of regulations (mass protruding beyond the head). It was the most blatant physical symbol of outright disrespect and defiance I've seen in over 30 in and around the military. And I wondered to myself how many hundreds, and perhaps thousands of more senior enlisted troops and officers have shrunk from their duty to correct her out of fear of being accused of “offending” her...?
I've seen many females who wear their hair well outside of the guidelines in AF regulations. But this was the most incredibly gross display of that kind I've ever seen. She must have been doing this for many months, if not years. And don't think for a second that there is an officer in the AF who doesn't know that wearing 9 inches of hair mass behind your head (triple the AF limit) is ridiculously out of regulations. And while this is the worst example I've ever seen, I've seen many women in an AF uniform who display complete disregard for AF dress/appearance standards.
My interpretation of word “leadership” tells me that by not enforcing regulations on EVERY member of the service, military leaders (both officer and enlisted) are not just being “lax” or “tolerant”...they're being disrespectful and defiant their own leadership chain, and to regulations.
It's painful to watch. But this PC stuff is a “cancer” for the military...and it's a growing trend.
One mujahideen’s jihad is another man’s workplace violence spree!
We are going to continue to see more one-man jihads, per the Koran and hadiths, that will be minimized by Left.
Raven - much like the E-7s who show up on Monday, knowing it’s “blues day” (and regardless of what people - me included - think of that), in their ABUs and NOBODY, including officers, calls them on it. I do, and get the “a-hole colonel” look, which leads to further conversation, but generally doesn’t turn their attitudes around.
There’s a reason behind the dress and appearance regs. It’s not just so somebody with control issues can have something to gig people on. It’s a small reminder of the crucial concept of obedience to lawful orders, without which a military force is an undisciplined and ineffective mob.
I’m retired AF and would strongly advice you not to lose your cool. Just hang in there.
ping
-—HR is never your friend in the business world. Appears that maxim is the same in the military.——
Once I started seeing HR as employee-hostile, everything made sense.
Govt policies are a big reason for the situation.
You can't run a company based on ‘feelings’, you can only run it into the ground.
I advise any young professional to RUN like hell from any job offers at a company with a female in charge of HR!
Reminds me of mine too in the Ar,y back in the 70s.
HA...that is why I quit working over 20 years ago...felt TOO much like I was working for the government...and I was in HR in very well respected High Tech companies!
I’m still not over the sexual assault briefing I got a few years back that said 1/2 of the Air Force was either a rapist or helped someone cover up a sexual assault.
This fluff is the crap I have to endure to do what passion and patriotism desire. No one I know takes that stuff seriously no matter how much PC crap the brass demands of the force.
Bless you, and thank you for your service. Always remember, the good guys are the good guys because they are the good guys, and no one can take that away.
The “thing” about this for me is this: if they'll show that much disrespect and defiance of something as “ordinary” as the dress and appearance regulations, imagine the defiance they would show if I gave them an order that might put their life in jeopardy in a real conflict when they'd rather be doing her nails or texting friends on Facebook.
“Man...you don't know me. You're not the boss of me....”
If you want to know what's really happened to the Air Force in the past 20 years, just find a few Marine officers and senior NCOs who spent time on the ground in Iraq. Ask them what they think of the Air Force.
If, as the AF likes to say, “perception is reality”...oh, boy...
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