Military Equal Opportunity works to right wrongs

  • Published
  • By Janet Taylor-Birkey
  • 27th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFPN) --  The time was the early 1970s -- just a few years after President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Race relations were affecting society as a whole, so it also affected the military.

"The military was going through a large transition at that point with integration of military troops. The Department of Defense finally recognized a need for race relations due to several riots going on at locations," said Master Sgt. Sheila Parra, 27th Fighter Wing Military Equal Opportunity flight chief.

Identification of this need opened up a new military career field called Race Relations, later changed to Military Equal Opportunity. MEO, which stretches across all branches of the military, is trained to deal with discrimination situations of any variety.

Issues faced by the MEO office are often reflected by what is going on in current culture, said Sergeant Parra, with sexual harassment and race discrimination continuing to be the two prevailing concerns.

Active duty Airmen, their family members and retired military members can find assistance and education in the MEO office, but are encouraged to work through their chain-of-command if at all possible.

"First sergeants and commanders have all received individual training. Try to give them an opportunity to work it (because) ultimately, that's who's going to make the final decision," said Sergeant Parra, stressing that many times issues are not as unsolvable as they might appear.

"A lot of times it's just an education process on both sides," she said.

Sergeant Parra said MEO does not discipline anyone.

"We are a neutral entity that goes in and finds the facts. We are not here for the victim or the alleged offender; we're neutral in all aspects," Sergeant Parra said.

As certified mediators, they work to help find resolutions, enabling MEO to have a success rate of more than 90 percent of cases going back to the chain-of-command, rather than involving further actions.

One of MEO's goals is having everyone working together to achieve the highest personal comfort level possible in a work center. Working toward inclusion is important because most conflict comes from miscommunication or misunderstanding between individuals, Sergeant Parra said.

"I want them to know that if they are seriously going through an issue, there's always help (and) we are here to help them," Sergeant Parra said.

The MEO office cannot promise anonymity in helping Airmen, but they do offer protective communication, which is limited confidentiality.

"So many people have fears of coming forward," she said, but "what they say in here stays in here. It's not going out in the newspaper; it's not going out to anyone who does not have a need to know."

Sergeant Parra said that even with limited confidentiality, if an Airman wants a problem resolved, a commander will need to know in order to work the issue.

It's not always easy to work misunderstandings between people, but Sergeant Parra said it's gratifying when resolutions are reached.

"When you're able to see the system actually work and you're able to help someone -- when you see someone's eyes open up in those classes you teach," she said. "It's the little things (such as) when a first sergeant calls and thanks you for talking to their troop."