Backtalk: Commanders should encourage airmen to express opinions

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Commanders should encourage airmen to express opinions
By Brian L. Braden

A disturbing theme has emerged in responses I’ve received to previous “Back Talk” columns: Some active-duty readers are reluctant to speak out for fear of damaging their careers. In one letter, a field grade officer described a forum he attended where a high-ranking Air Force general discussed the challenges facing our service. This officer disagreed with many of the policies the general espoused, but when the question and answer period came, he said nothing.

“Not wanting to lose my own career, I sat silent,” he wrote.

What good is a successful career if the institution in which you serve crumbles around you? We live in an era when some are questioning the very need for an Air Force. This is no time for silence.

Let me be clear, I’m not advocating dissent. I am advocating an intellectually open environment where airmen can respectfully express opinions and question assumptions without fear of reprisal.

The Air Force has a fondness for commissioning outside panels and studies seeking answers to its problems. But the best solutions don’t come from Rand Corp. studies. They come from airmen, the world’s most educated and best trained military personnel, who live and breathe air power. But the leadership can’t tap this resource in a culture of silence.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce_backtalk_opinions_041408/