US Army Eo Program

U.S. ARMY EO Program

Equality

For quite some time now, the United States Army has been dedicated to the concept of equal opportunity employment and conditions for its employees to labor in. Such an environment is one devoid of sexism, racism, classicism, as well as of many of the discriminatory considerations and practices that, unfortunately, still are found in much of the country today. One of the chief areas in which such unwarranted behavior has the potential to become manifest within the military service (as well as within civilian life) is in the making of inappropriate remarks and jocular behavior based on ethnicity, sex, or several other factors that are germane to a certain demographic of people. A substantial body of literature exists that supports the notion that the military will not tolerate such behavior, and there are also fairly significant, structured steps to take to discipline anyone who transgresses the boundaries of the environment of equal opportunity which the armed services seeks to provide.

One of the stated purposes of the Equal Opportunity Program of the Army is to Create and sustain effective units by eliminating discriminatory behaviors or practices that undermine teamwork, mutual respect, loyalty, and shared sacrifice of the men and women of America's Army… The U.S. Army will provide EO and fair treatment for military personnel and Family members without regard to race, color, gender, religion, national origin, and provide an environment free of unlawful discrimination and offensive behavior (No author, 1994, p. 9-10).

There can be little doubt that the stating of remarks that are based on someone's race and ethnicity are inappropriate for a working environment, let alone an environment that strives for "fair treatment" of people regardless of their nationality, religious beliefs, sex or identity. Subsequently, the armed forces has adopted a policy of no tolerance of any such commentary, and has outlined a formal chain of command and procedure for disciplinary action to severely dissuade anyone from making comments that are not conducive to an equal opportunity setting.

Inappropriate commentary based upon one's sexuality can be a lot less explicit, and unintended, than remarks based upon one's race. However, there are fairly strict definitions and codes regarding remarks of a sexual nature that the armed forces is unwilling to tolerate. Such statements may be extremely casual, such as the referring to a female employee by a colloquial term such as "babe." Despite the actual intention of such a comment, which may actually be quite innocent, there is little tolerance from this sort of behavior, or any other, that the receiving party may deem as offensive, as the following quotation explicitly states.

Soldiers and civilians must understand that what they may consider to be joking or horseplay must be evaluated on its appropriateness and offensiveness as perceived by the recipient… In determining whether such behavior constitutes sexual harassment, a primary concern is the impact of the act upon the victim, not the intent of the alleged harasser. An excuse such as, "I was only joking" is irrelevant (No author, 2008, p. 50).