LOR Rebuttal for Failure to Report

Responding to a Letter of Reprimand (LOR)

MEMO FOR 009th IS CC/ 1st Sgt

SUBJECT: Letter of Reprimand Response, A1C John Long

To whom it may concern,

I am Airman First Class John Long, a Multi-Language Linguist and Signals Analyst in Voodoo Flight, and I would like to address a Letter of Reprimand I received on 6AUG2010. I appreciate the opportunity given to me by my chain of command to present my case, explain the circumstances leading up to the LOR, and with the utmost respect to my superiors, express my disagreement with the current circumstances.

Sometime in the month of June, I was notified that I was on the list for Date of Separation Rollbacks, and that I would be separating from the Air Force on 31AUG2010 instead of 4SEP2013 as stated by my contract. This was due to previous disciplinary actions for events that transpired off-duty. I was given the simple instructions that I must continue my duties as an Airman, and that I must also prepare for separation, which I was told included completing several mandatory appointments, and creating a professional resume to secure employment after discharge. During the month of July, I successfully completed as many appointments permitted in such a short period of time, and updated my whereabouts on J-Signout for accountability purposes, often times weeks in advance. My chain of command was aware that I was separating and that I had several appointments on a weekly basis that would cause me to be away from my office. Upon completion of my resume, I began to receive job offers and requests for interviews.

On Tue, 27JUL2010, I unwisely scheduled a last minute job interview for the next morning of Wed, 28JUL2010. I spent the evening preparing for the appointment, and forgot to inform my supervisor and chain of command of the appointment. Later that evening, I realized that I hadn't informed anyone of my plans, and informed my wingman via text message to update my J-Signout the following morning since I would be out of the office and wanted to be accounted for if needed. In retrospect, I realize that before relying solely on the wingman concept, which often fails due to human error or negligence, I should have instead contacted one of the many links in my chain of command, despite the late hour. I could have also contacted them the next morning to inform them of my whereabouts. Unfortunately, my wingman had undergone surgery prior to receiving my message, and due to the medication he was on, easily, and understandably forgot to update my whereabouts the next morning.

I acknowledge responsibility for my error in judgment, and realize that I had several better options available to me at the time that I failed to use. While I agree that I was definitely in the wrong, I strongly disagree with the severity of my punishment. I have contacted the Area Defense Council and the IG to inform me of my rights and to advise me how to best deal with this unfortunate circumstance. I have also done my own research into the matter as suggested by several NCOs to better understand the full scope of options available to leadership to correct breaches of policy. As I understand it, a Letter of Reprimand is used to correct either a repetitive misbehavior after other means have been exhausted, or to correct a clear and intentional breach or disregard to the rules of conduct. I strongly disagree that either of these situations are the case.

In my three years of service I have never had any disciplinary action that has been work related. In the scope of work I am an exemplary employee and coworker and I often come in to work early, work through lunch, and stay late. I have always updated my status and whereabouts on J-Signout prior to this incident and have never had any legitimate problems at work. I feel that this was an isolated incident and it never has been, or will be repeated. Upon being informed of my error, I received counseling from my supervisor and flight chief and I made it clear to them that I understood the impact of my actions and the mistakes that I made. Furthermore, I gave a clear understanding of the steps I would take in the future to prevent said action from ever being repeated, and worked with my supervisor to implement these preventative measures.

I would also ask for it to be taken into consideration the stressful nature of preparing for a major life change, especially on such short notice. I was informed that I would be separating well under the 90-day customary threshold, and I felt a strong sense of urgency to plan for the future of my family. This includes seeking employment in the civilian sector, and having to go to job interviews to do so. I'd also like to point out, that although I was repeatedly assured that I would indeed be separating on 31AUG2010 by my chain of command, I was repeatedly informed by personnel flight that this was not the case, which left me in a state of uncertainty and perpetually preoccupied with the conflict in information I was given.

While I realize that I have had administrative action against me before this, I would like to point out that this particular incident is of a completely different nature than my prior transgressions. Again, I would also point out that it has not happened before in my career, not during basic training, either of my lengthy tech schools, or active duty. Finally, as this incident was clearly unintended and not a blatant and purposeful transgression to conduct or policy, I would respectfully ask that taking all these factors into consideration the LOR be rescinded or reduced to a lesser form of counseling. I believe an LOR to be an extreme form of punishment for a single, isolated incident, and under the circumstances is more of a punishment than a corrective measure.

With the Utmost Respect,

A1C John Long, USAF
009th Intelligence Squadron, Voodoo Flight