WEBVTT

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Another episode of Carnivore Nation

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where we tackle important topics that

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impact the 10th Air Force in our

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community . I'm your host , 10th Air

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Force Public Affairs , Chris Wilson .

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And today we're diving into a topic

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that's both timely and essential

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election season . As usual , it's

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shaping up to be a contentious one .

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And while we encourage every airmen and

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civilian to exercise their civic duty

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and participate , there are some

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important rules we all need to follow .

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You're with us today to help break it

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all down is Lieutenant Colonel

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Christopher Kovac , 10th Air Force J A

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Colonel Kovac . He'll be guiding us

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through the D OS and Don's for military

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members and the civilian employees

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during the selection season . So , pour

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yourself a cup of coffee , sit back and

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get informed . So you stay within the

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boundaries and we can all maintain the

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integrity of the Air Force while still

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talk , taking part in this final

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democratic process . Welcome , Colonel

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Kovac . Thanks Chris . It's great to be

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here . All right . So we're gonna dive

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right into it . Can you tell us uh the

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purpose of election season guidelines ?

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Well , I do wanna clarify something

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initially . I mean , I completely agree

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with you in that . Yeah , it's shaping

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up to be a pretty contested contentious

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election . Uh Presidential elections

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tend to be that way every four years .

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Uh But the guns that we're gonna talk

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about is uh really just guidance that

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applies all the time it applies to uh

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how uh military members , civilian

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employees are meant to engage , as you

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said , with that civic process . Uh So ,

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although the election season is kind of

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the triggering event here , the

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guidance that we'll be discussing is

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really universally applicable . All

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right . What are the , some of the key

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differences in political activity

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guidelines for active duty versus

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personnel uh versus reserve personnel

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if there are any ? Oh , that's a great

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question . Uh So I think the biggest

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takeaway here is that when reserve

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military members aren't in a military

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status . And by that , I mean , whether

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it's annual training in active duty

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training or ID TS , whenever they're on

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orders , you know , they're essentially

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treated as a full time military

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personnel . The rules that apply for

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active duty counterparts also apply for

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reserve members in status when they're

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not in status , they're civilians . Now ,

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if they have a GS job or they're an air

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reserve technician or an art , then

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different rules apply . But if you're

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just a weekend warrior , uh then you're

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treated as a civilian uh for really

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like 28 days out of 30 . So there are a

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lot of key differences because when

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you're a civilian . Uh , and you're not

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on military status , then you really

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have the freedom to do what any other

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civilian in this country can do and

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engage with that process . All right .

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Um , w what's the importance of

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maintaining a pa uh nonpartisan and how

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that helps with the public trust and

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good order ? Sure . Uh , so the United

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States military dod and we're in a

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political organization . So every

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service member , every civilian

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employee , we all take an oath to

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support and defend the Constitution of

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the United States against all enemies

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foreign and domestic . And the

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president elected by the people serves

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as our commander in chief and we

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fulfill our duties in that capacity .

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So if there is any inkling that a dod

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member uh engages in a

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partisan political activity , then it

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really undermine , it really undermines

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the , the entire point of dod in

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general . Like we don't take sides , we

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follow orders . So that's why that in

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that nonpartisan aspect is , is so

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important . Are there any

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kind of political activities uh

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military members are prohibited from

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engaging in while on duty or in uniform ?

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Yeah . Uh and I'd say probably the best

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way to view this is um if you tie it

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back to endorsement , I think that's a

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good way to think about it . So

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whenever military members are on duty

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in uniform , then they are representing

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Dod . Uh even though they don't intend

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to do it , if you're a unaffiliated

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observer then you may think that the

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service member is representing Dod . Uh

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So things that are permitted , I I'll

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start there . So , uh you can vote ,

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you can donate to a political cause or

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a political candidate . Uh , you can ,

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uh participate in the federal voting

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assistance program . You can even

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express a personal opinion on political

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candidates or issues . I mean , some

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people are under the misapprehension

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that service members are not allowed to

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talk about , uh , their political views .

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Now . I mean , there's a difference

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between , you know , whether you should

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do something , uh , and whether it is

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legal or not and I'll leave that to ,

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uh , supervisors to be judicious there .

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But , I mean , yeah , I mean , if

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you're having a political conversation

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in the office with a peer and you're

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not attempting to influence somebody's

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vote one way or the other , that's

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perfectly permissible . Those are all

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things that are permitted . Uh , uh ,

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military members when they're not in

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uniform can even attend protests ,

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demonstrations , marches . Uh , really ,

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it's that uniform piece , right . So

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those are things that are permitted

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there . There's a whole lot that you

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can do . In fact , really , the only

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thing that you really can't do is kind

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of trade off that dod rank or uniform

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and show up to a rally , uh , you know ,

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ball garbed in , in uniform . Uh , so ,

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uh , kind of turned into that , you

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know , things that military members

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can't do . Right . So , can't fundraise

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for a candidate . You can't pass off

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your personal opinion as Dod or

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Department of the Air Force policy .

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Again , it's really that appearance of

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partisanship that all these rules are

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really getting after . That's really

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what we're trying to avoid uh military

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members in status . They , you know ,

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can't organize , leads , sponsor or

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speak at partisan political events .

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Can't use your military rank or title

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on social media . Again , it's

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all on that appearance of uh

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improvising you . You mentioned social

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media just now . Um can military

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members express personal political

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views on social media ? And if so ,

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what precautions should they take ?

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Yeah , and it's one of those things

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where I'll get it . It , it's a yes and

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uh yes , that is permissible . Uh

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provided there is a disclaimer that

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says this is my , my , my personal view .

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It , it's not dod policy and also that

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that really only applies . Now some

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folks do this . I mean , I think best

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practice you wouldn't want to do this .

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Uh But some people have like their

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profile pic their picture uh you know

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of them in uniform . I mean , I can

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tell you , I that's my linkedin profile

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picture that's perfectly appropriate .

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You're allowed to do that . There's

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nothing wrong with that or they'll put

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their , their , their title . Uh Look ,

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I , again , it's on linkedin . I say

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that I am a judge advocate employed by

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the Department of the Air Force right

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now . True statement totally

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permissible . Uh If I were to post a

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political opinion uh on my linkedin

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feed , I would have to put a disclaimer

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that says this is a personal view . Or

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again , if I wrote a , a , an article

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to a newspaper or I published a law

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review article that had some political

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uh political content in it , again ,

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it's just about that disclaimer . Best

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practice . You probably want to avoid

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that . But at the same time , these

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rules that we're talking about are not

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meant to stifle anybody's first

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amendment rights . Like it really is

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important . I mean , again , everybody

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should vote , everybody should

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participate in the political process .

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It's totally OK to encourage folks to ,

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you know , undertake their civic

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obligations . It's just about that

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appearance of impropriety . All right .

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So we've talked a lot about uh what the

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active duty reserves can do the , the U

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people in uniform , the Green series as

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we call them what they can and can't do ,

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how does that apply to civilians uh as

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GS employees or as dod employees ? Ok .

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So if we're talking about , uh OK , we ,

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we tell my GS employees employed by the

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Department of the Air Force . Yeah , so

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a lot of it , I , I it's pretty much

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the same thing although civilians have

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a bit more freedom . Uh So everything

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that I mentioned that military members

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could do military members and status

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can do , civilians can also do so vote ,

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register to vote , encourage others to

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vote , expressing that personal opinion .

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On political candidates and issues ,

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they can donate money . But again , a

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bit more freedom , like , civilians can

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campaign or make speeches for or

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against candidates in partisan

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elections . That's certainly something

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that a green suitor shouldn't or

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couldn't do . Uh , civilians can , uh ,

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civilians can even be a candidate for

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public office in a nonpartisan election .

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Military members , not so much , um ,

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uh , civilians can volunteer to work on

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the campaign of the cabinet running for

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political office . That's totally fine .

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Uh So you can kind of see if you're

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looking at . Um

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Yeah , Bud . Yeah . Ok .

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So going back to the um what the

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kind of what covers all this stuff ,

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the kind of falls are the hatch act .

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Can you talk a little bit about the

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Hatch Act and how that applies to air

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force , civilian employees ? And what

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are some of the common restrictions

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within the hatch act ? Yeah , sure . Uh

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So I do want to clarify . So the hatch

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act only applies to civilian employees .

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Uh A lot of times when folks discuss

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the Hatch act , uh they're under the uh

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this apprehension that applies to

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military members . Again , as we , we

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kind of discussed today . A lot of the

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restrictions are the same . It's just

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that the military restricts itself by

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policy . If me as an active duty

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military member now were to uh let's

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say uh make a speech for a candidate in

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a partisan election . I wouldn't be

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violating the Hatch Act I would be

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violating the ad policy that the UCMJ

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violation . Right . So that's only if

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you're in uniform and you're Colonel

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Kova doing it versus Chris Koach doing

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it . Yeah . So when these , uh , when

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my orders end and I revert back to

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being a ags civilian employed by the

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department of Defense , then what I

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have to worry about is the Hatch Act .

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I wouldn't have to worry about the

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implementing dod instruction or

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Department of the Air Force instruction .

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So it's honestly less confusing than it

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is because there is so much overlap and

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there's so much consistency between the

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D OS . And don't , I mean , the major

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takeaway is civilians have , have a bit

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more freedom in what they're allowed to

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do . Uh But ultimately , uh the biggest

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thing , the biggest takeaway is , hey ,

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like , don't trade off your government

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employment uh to achieve some political

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aim or uh or goal . So

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that's really the nuts and bolts . Uh

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It's really the , you know , the Hatch

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act in a nutshell . Uh There are ,

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there are penalties for violating it .

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Uh And these do happen . Uh So civilian

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employees , I mean , you're probably

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familiar with concepts like a reprimand

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or a removal from federal service

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suspension , you know , that 14 day ,

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you know , suspension , you know ,

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these are , these are permissible

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penalties uh under the Hatch Act and

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they , they could happen . Ok . So Kobe ,

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uh why is it crucial for all members ,

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especially the 10th Air force to adhere

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to these guidelines . Yeah . Uh It's a

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great question . Uh The answer is ,

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it's our job . It really relates back

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to the oath that all of us took ,

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whether we're agreed to a civilian

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employee to support and defend the

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constitution . And it's one of the

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Commander's priorities here . Generals

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priority that we remain in a political

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organization . Uh If we need to uh for

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a mission we're called upon to do that .

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Uh We can't have that appearance of

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David T or impropriety . Like we don't

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take sides here whoever the president

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is . Uh frankly , it's not even just

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the president . I mean , we are also

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bound by , you know , the laws passed

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by Congress like we follow orders .

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That's our job , we follow orders . Uh

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and we can't do anything to undermine

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uh air force policy , dod policy , air

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force reserve command policy , like

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we're , we're just here to do our job .

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Ok . So we kind of covered all this in

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a very general way . Uh Is there a

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place where uh ser service members and

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civilians can go for clarification or

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questions about permissible political ,

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political activity , sir ? Yeah . So

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for anybody intent , uh you can always

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reach out to me directly and I'm happy

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to talk about it . Um We have also

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posted the election season guidance on

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the 10th Air Force SharePoint . And

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then honestly , I mean , although we

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kind of talked about how this might be

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specific 10 , therefore , there's

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really nothing that is 10th specific

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aside from supporting the journal's

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priorities , if you just wanna Google ,

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you know , hash act or political

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activities , all that , all this comes

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up . I mean , again , it's a , it's a

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timely , uh , matter that we're

13:31.880 --> 13:33.936
discussing now , but it's , it's not

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new . Right ? None of these rules are

13:36.047 --> 13:38.213
new . It's kind of been this way for a

13:38.213 --> 13:40.380
while . So again , I can be your point

13:40.380 --> 13:42.380
of contact or folks can very easily

13:42.380 --> 13:44.269
find it using the search of their

13:44.269 --> 13:46.158
choices . Well , sir , in today's

13:46.158 --> 13:48.047
episode , we impact the essential

13:48.047 --> 13:50.047
guidelines for political activities

13:50.047 --> 13:52.102
during the election season . Colonel

13:52.102 --> 13:54.213
Kovac helped us to understand the key

13:54.213 --> 13:53.750
differences in what's permitted for

13:53.760 --> 13:55.649
military members , reservists and

13:55.649 --> 13:57.704
civilian employees , emphasizing the

13:57.704 --> 13:59.593
importance of maintaining the apo

13:59.593 --> 14:01.649
nature of the Air Force . We covered

14:01.649 --> 14:03.871
how to responsibly participate in civic

14:03.871 --> 14:06.093
duties , including voting while staying

14:06.093 --> 14:05.380
compliant with the Department of

14:05.390 --> 14:07.780
Defense and Air Force regulations . Is

14:07.789 --> 14:09.900
there anything else you'd like to add

14:09.900 --> 14:12.559
to that , sir ? Yeah , I , I really do

14:12.570 --> 14:14.514
want to go back and highlight very

14:14.514 --> 14:16.626
briefly the difference between what's

14:16.626 --> 14:18.792
legal and what might be a good idea in

14:18.792 --> 14:21.030
the workplace . So these rules I think

14:21.039 --> 14:23.760
are really good at showing what the

14:23.770 --> 14:26.359
left and right boundary boundaries of

14:26.369 --> 14:29.390
what permissible . Uh I mean , I can

14:29.400 --> 14:32.150
tell you right now I have strong

14:32.159 --> 14:34.215
political views . I intend to vote ,

14:34.215 --> 14:36.326
right ? And I'm perfectly comfortable

14:36.326 --> 14:38.326
sharing that with you . However , I

14:38.326 --> 14:40.048
think my effectiveness in this

14:40.048 --> 14:42.270
workplace might be diminished if I were

14:42.270 --> 14:42.039
to

14:45.520 --> 14:47.576
broadcast , you know , what my views

14:47.576 --> 14:49.631
might be . Right . So I , I think we

14:49.631 --> 14:51.298
just all need to be mindful ,

14:51.298 --> 14:53.353
especially at the headquarters level

14:53.353 --> 14:55.298
here , the positions that we're in

14:55.298 --> 14:57.520
again , like we need to engage with the

14:57.520 --> 14:59.520
civic process . Right ? And I think

14:59.520 --> 15:01.687
that it's important to vote , register

15:01.687 --> 15:01.510
to vote , encourage others to do the

15:01.520 --> 15:04.450
same . All those things are , they're

15:04.460 --> 15:06.682
good to do for military members is good

15:06.682 --> 15:08.904
to do as citizens of this country . But

15:08.904 --> 15:11.190
at , at the same time , we also don't

15:11.200 --> 15:14.150
want to improperly influence anybody

15:14.159 --> 15:16.437
else's rights . We all have our rights ,

15:16.437 --> 15:18.603
but you've got yours . Every airmen in

15:18.603 --> 15:20.826
this building has rights too . We don't

15:20.826 --> 15:24.760
want to push influence or otherwise

15:24.770 --> 15:27.150
infringe upon their rights . Absolutely .

15:28.650 --> 15:30.872
Thanks again , sir for joining us today

15:30.872 --> 15:32.928
and sharing your expertise on this .

15:32.928 --> 15:35.150
All right , remember , participating in

15:35.150 --> 15:37.261
our democracy is important , but it's

15:37.261 --> 15:37.000
just as important that we follow the

15:37.010 --> 15:39.121
rules to ensure the air Force remains

15:39.121 --> 15:41.288
neutral and trusted by the public . If

15:41.288 --> 15:43.454
you have any further questions or need

15:43.454 --> 15:45.621
guidance , don't hesitate to reach out

15:45.621 --> 15:47.899
to your legal office for clarification .

15:47.899 --> 15:47.809
Thanks for listening and stay tuned for

15:47.820 --> 15:49.820
our next episode where we dive into

15:49.820 --> 15:52.042
more critical topics affecting the 10th

15:52.042 --> 15:54.153
Air Force . Stay sharp , stay focused

15:54.153 --> 15:56.264
and carnivores . Always ready to lead

15:56.264 --> 15:55.780
the way