20 Years Done

Lt Col Archie Godwin, 31st AMXS Commander I'm going to take a break from my regularly scheduled story to share with you an email I received anonymously this week. This email is about a Chief Ruuti however I have placed a picture of Lt Col Archie Godwin in this article because I believe commanders are responsible for their subordinates behavior; especially their Chiefs. It comes from the 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Chief at Aviano Air Base, Italy. As always, I'll lead with the email and then provide my own opinion below it. So the email [apologies on the size, either zoom your computer screen or pinch zoom the picture]: So, first thing there appears to be a conflict between the subject of the email and the intent of the email. From the subject you would think there are people not on shaving waivers that are electing not to shave. The first sentence supports that asking for people to enforce 36-2903. This implies it is a dress and appearance complian

If you haven’t read this story from the beginning I recommend you start here . Also I am going to provide some insights that you might wonder 'But how does he know?' I assure you I will provide the references in a future blog. But for now I am trying to keep this story chronological for your benefit. Tyler ended up recovering fully from his ordeal. Although the LOR stayed in his PIF for as long as I was in the Air Force, I don’t believe any of his supervisors or commanders gave it any consideration. However, our story doesn’t end there… I recorded the meeting with Lt Col Martin in early November 2015. After Tyler was situated I didn’t really have a reason to keep it. I probably only kept it out of habit. Because deleting it was more trouble than it was worth. I believe the incident with Tyler was the driving factor for my removal as the 311th AMU specialist section chief. I think I was perceived as ‘combative’ or ‘difficult’ Lt Col Martin likely wanted someone in the

Coming fresh off the heels of the LOR/UIF from Lt Col Martin, Tyler refocused his efforts on his civilian legal case and his ALS appeal. His civilian case appeared to be on the verge of completion as Tyler was armed with a statement from his accuser recanting her initial statement. Her second statement cleared Tyler of any wrong doing. Moreover this information was made available to Lt Col Martin. Great news right? Surely Lt Col Martin would rescind the LOR and UIF because Tyler is innocent! Not quite. If you remember Lt Col Martin predicated 'getting rid' of the LOR and UIF on two conditions: that the charges off-base are dropped and the ALS appeal is granted. The flaw in this logic is quite obvious to most. If Tyler did not commit the crime, and the charges are dropped, but for whatever reason ALS doesn't grant his appeal, keeping the LOR/UIF knowing he is innocent would add insult to injury. This of course is assuming that Tyler didn't commit the crime.

For this week's blog I sat down with the Sierra Hotel Echo podcast to discuss my career, experiences and why I decided to write this blog. I also expanded on the SrA Rodgers story from a few weeks ago. You can find a link to the blog here , or find Sierra Hotel Echo Episode 10 on your preferred podcast medium. Let me know what you think in the comments!