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Zero tolerance -- that's our standard

  • Published
  • By Brig. Gen. Brett Williams
  • 18th Wing commander
Here at Kadena, we recently celebrated Women's History Month and African-American Heritage month. Two weeks ago we enjoyed Spring Fest at Marek Park with an early kick-off to the Month of the Military Child and Child Abuse Prevention Month. Those of us who have been in the Air Force for a few years know that celebrating diversity and proactively addressing key social issues are a part of our culture and linked directly to our core values. 

We are proud of our diversity as Airmen and in a larger sense we recognize that one of the things that makes our Country great is our diversity. We appreciate the commitments of many groups to our success as a nation and we clearly value our freedom of thought, speech and religion. 

I and the other commanders on Kadena have a solemn duty and responsibility to guarantee a climate of zero tolerance for any kind of discrimination in our workplaces or our community. I take that responsibility very seriously. 

In our base newspaper, I recently addressed a concern regarding AFN programming. It has come to my attention that some members of our community misunderstood my comments. Let me make sure my message is clear: some AFN programming is clearly contrary to our central command messages; specifically with regards to suicide, alcohol abuse, and sexuaI misconduct. That was my message in response to the hotline query. My response did not comment on the appropriateness of any programming that may be targeted at a specific segment of the listening audience. 

The bottom line is that I am firmly committed as the 18th Wing Commander and the Kadena Installation Commander to a policy of zero tolerance for any discrimination based on gender, race, religion, or ethnic background. If you are ever concerned about how that policy is applied and enforced on Kadena please contact me, the Equal Opportunity Office, the Office of the Inspector General, or anyone in your chain of command. 

In closing, let me say thanks for all you do every day to support our mission here on Okinawa.