Comments on: Equal Opportunity – The Bench: You’re the Judge http://outservemag.org/2011/08/equal-opportunity/ a publication of OutServe, the association of actively serving LGBT military personnel Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:05:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Another Active Duty EO Counselor http://outservemag.org/2011/08/equal-opportunity/#comment-300 Another Active Duty EO Counselor Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:36:01 +0000 http://outservemag.org/?p=89#comment-300 Ditto to the other EO Counselor. The author of this article is so misguided and I absolutely cannot believe he/she ever spent any time at DEOMI. I cannot believe this person would basically say that people in an EO Office (USAF) are number crunchers and occasionally an advocate. Collecting "data" is such a small part of our jobs!!! We are people available to help military members and civilian DOD employees through a confusing and sometimes frustrating process. More importantly, we are people that are non-judgemental and will listen to your concerns. If you come to us with something outside our purview, we are not going to simply dismiss you but we will refer you to a more appropriate channel. However, I fully admit we are NOT advocates and we are NOT investigators! We are a non-judgemental, third party, neutral party that ONLY wants to help solve a problem. We are trained to mediate and/or facilitate resolutions to a problem. I personally have entered a room with two people that absolutely hated each other. I thought it was impossible to get these two people on the same page. However, after four hours, we left that room with two people that understood each other and still today work effectively together. I could go on and on with what is wrong in this article but I have one basic point. Don't discourage people to use a very effective resource that is readily available! Especially, when you have no idea what you are talking about. Ditto to the other EO Counselor. The author of this article is so misguided and I absolutely cannot believe he/she ever spent any time at DEOMI. I cannot believe this person would basically say that people in an EO Office (USAF) are number crunchers and occasionally an advocate. Collecting “data” is such a small part of our jobs!!! We are people available to help military members and civilian DOD employees through a confusing and sometimes frustrating process. More importantly, we are people that are non-judgemental and will listen to your concerns. If you come to us with something outside our purview, we are not going to simply dismiss you but we will refer you to a more appropriate channel.

However, I fully admit we are NOT advocates and we are NOT investigators! We are a non-judgemental, third party, neutral party that ONLY wants to help solve a problem. We are trained to mediate and/or facilitate resolutions to a problem. I personally have entered a room with two people that absolutely hated each other. I thought it was impossible to get these two people on the same page. However, after four hours, we left that room with two people that understood each other and still today work effectively together.

I could go on and on with what is wrong in this article but I have one basic point. Don’t discourage people to use a very effective resource that is readily available! Especially, when you have no idea what you are talking about.

]]> By: EO Counselor http://outservemag.org/2011/08/equal-opportunity/#comment-284 EO Counselor Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:56:04 +0000 http://outservemag.org/?p=89#comment-284 I invite the author of this article to intern with my EO office. I have been in the EO careerfield for 10 years. I have prided myself on distancing my approach to the job from the old social actions stereotype. I would argue that quite the opposite is true, I spend very little time gathering stats and in fact spend more time conducting briefings. I add quite a bit of flair to grab and maintain my students attention. As the author you are most certainly entitled to write an article as you see fit, but interning at DEOMI is nothing compared to being in the trenches with an EO office. You have made several good points. You, the author, have also made references to the EO program I find offensive. I don't have the time to address each reference I dislike. Bottom line, I am the neutral entity entrusted to help individuals seek resolution to what they feel maybe unlawful discrimination or sexual harassment. I do this for those who feel they can not approach the chain of command, or have done so and have had no change in circumstance. The EO office does not work for minorities, women, men, enlisted, officers, gay or straight. I work for a Wing Commander to sort through allegations brought to our attention. I do not work at an institutional level, I work at all levels on an installation where concerns are made known. The undertones of this article do not paint EO in a favorable tone - to me, speaking for self. I don't appreciate it. I encourage anyone reading this article to engage your local EO office (USAF) to get the real "low down" on what we do for a living. I also ask readers to engage EO professionals as we conduct "out and about" visits in your squadrons. Its a great time to ask questions about what we can and can not do for you. I have said enough for now... Thanks for reading. Concerned EO Professional I invite the author of this article to intern with my EO office. I have been in the EO careerfield for 10 years. I have prided myself on distancing my approach to the job from the old social actions stereotype. I would argue that quite the opposite is true, I spend very little time gathering stats and in fact spend more time conducting briefings. I add quite a bit of flair to grab and maintain my students attention. As the author you are most certainly entitled to write an article as you see fit, but interning at DEOMI is nothing compared to being in the trenches with an EO office. You have made several good points. You, the author, have also made references to the EO program I find offensive. I don’t have the time to address each reference I dislike. Bottom line, I am the neutral entity entrusted to help individuals seek resolution to what they feel maybe unlawful discrimination or sexual harassment. I do this for those who feel they can not approach the chain of command, or have done so and have had no change in circumstance. The EO office does not work for minorities, women, men, enlisted, officers, gay or straight. I work for a Wing Commander to sort through allegations brought to our attention. I do not work at an institutional level, I work at all levels on an installation where concerns are made known. The undertones of this article do not paint EO in a favorable tone – to me, speaking for self. I don’t appreciate it. I encourage anyone reading this article to engage your local EO office (USAF) to get the real “low down” on what we do for a living. I also ask readers to engage EO professionals as we conduct “out and about” visits in your squadrons. Its a great time to ask questions about what we can and can not do for you. I have said enough for now… Thanks for reading.

Concerned EO Professional

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