TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- ON-FINAL NEWS BULLETIN – March 3, 2023 (Vol 43, No. 3)
(Click headline to follow link to story and photos)
Chief’s commentary: A note from the command chief
Greetings Okies! If you want to know a little about me, then keep reading. If you would rather spend time viewing TikTok then scroll on. I will just fill out the Hurt Feelings Report at a later date. My story can be summed up in a few sentences. I have a wife of 16 years with a 12-year-old daughter
Waters relinquishes command of 507th Operations Support Squadron
Lt. Col. Douglas Jeffrey IV, 507th Operations Group commander, presents the Meritorious Service Medal to Lt. Col. Michael Waters, departing 507th Operations Support Squadron commander, Jan. 7, 2023 on Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Waters served as the 507th OSS commander for approximately two
Matter of time: No more time cards for AFRC civilians
Air Force Reserve Command civilians no longer need to complete time cards as of Feb. 16, 2023.Colleen Skaggs, process manager for the 507th Air Refueling Wing, hosted an AFRC-wide process improvement event in late 2022, in which a team from across AFRC met for three full duty days to discuss how the
Ruck for Bataan
Members of the 507th Security Forces Squadron train in preparation for the Bataan Memorial Death March at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. Feb. 4, 2023. The memorial march is conducted in honor of the heroic service members who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II, sacrificing their
Brazilian Bomb Lift
Members of the 72d Aerial Port Squadron and the Brazilian Air Force load and tie down Mark 82 munitions on a K-loader to then be loaded into a Brazilian Air Force Airbus A330 for transport as part of a Foreign Military Sales Program at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. Feb. 4, 2023.The Foreign Military
507th ARW March enlisted promotions
MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
February 27, 2023
In accordance with my 23 January 2023 memorandum “Rescission of 3 September 2021 Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination of Department of the Air Force Military Members and 7 December 2021 Supplemental Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination Policy Memoranda,” I want to reinforce that all policies within the Department of the Air Force associated with the implementation of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination mandate for Service members were also rescinded. Commanders at all levels must ensure that associated guidance derived from the mandate is rescinded. Refer to USD(P&R) Re: Consolidated Department of Defense Coronavirus Disease 2019 Force Health Protection Guidance - Revision 4, 30 January 2023 for current force health protection guidance.
I am issuing the following additional guidance with respect to the removal of adverse actions, and the handling of religious accommodation requests for those Service members who refused vaccination. At the time the actions were taken, they were appropriate, equitable and in accordance with valid lawful policy in effect at the time; however, removal of those actions is now appropriate in some circumstances.
a. Removal of Adverse Information: Currently serving Regular Air Force (RegAF), Space Force, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve members [including those involuntarily reassigned to the Inactive Ready Reserve] who sought an exemption on religious, administrative, or medical grounds, and who received adverse actions solely due to their refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shall have these items removed as detailed below. The Service member must have formally sought an accommodation on religious, administrative, or medical grounds prior to or concurrent with the official initiation of the adverse action in order to receive relief under this memorandum. Commanders will ensure the removal of such adverse actions from currently serving Service members’ records in accordance with the below guidance. Members will be notified by their command or record holder (e.g. Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC), Air Reserve Personnel Center (ARPC)) when the adverse actions have been removed from their records. This policy does not apply to members who refused the COVID-19 vaccination and did not request an exemption. Members who did not seek an exemption may petition their chain of command under existing DAF policy or the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records (AFBCMR) for removal of adverse information if they believe an injustice or error has occurred. The process to petition the AFBCMR may be found at: https://Afrba-portal.cce.af.mil.
(1) Letters of Admonishment, Counseling, or Reprimand, and Records of Individual Counseling issued solely for vaccine refusal after requesting an exemption as described above will be rescinded. Removal of actions for enlisted members will follow the procedures in DAFI 36-2907. Removal of officer adverse actions will follow DAFI 36-2907, except that the removal of Letters of Counseling related to a substantiated finding from an officially documented investigation, Letters of Admonishment and Letters of Reprimand from a Personnel Information File (PIF) or Unfavorable Information File (UIF) is delegated to commanders in the member's current chain of command who are equal or senior in grade to the initial imposing authority. Where the administrative action addresses additional misconduct, the administrative action will be redacted to remove all language associated with the member’s refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Commanders will make new determinations as to whether to uphold, downgrade, or withdraw the administrative action and entry into a PIF or UIF without consideration of the refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Any requirement for AFBCMR direction for removal of actions from Military Human Resource Records or other files will be accomplished by AFPC/ARPC as appropriate if removal is required under this memorandum. The member’s command will inform AFPC/ARPC which adverse actions will be removed, redacted, or replaced.
(2) Nonjudicial punishments issued solely for vaccine refusal after requesting an exemption as described above will be set aside in their entirety. Nonjudicial punishments issued partially for such vaccine refusal will have the vaccine refusal portion set aside and the remainder of the nonjudicial punishment reassessed for appropriateness. When the set aside is more than four months after the execution of the punishment, commanders should reference the SecDef Memo dated 10 January 2023 on an attachment to the AF Form 3212.
(3) Referral Performance Reports issued solely for vaccine refusal after requesting an exemption as described above will have the referral report removed from the member’s personnel record and replaced with a statement of non-rated time. Where the referral report addresses additional misconduct, the report will be redacted to remove all language associated with the member’s refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and the rater and/or additional rater will reassess if the remaining report should remain a referral.
(4) Promotion Records will be corrected by the record holder (e.g., AFPC, ARPC, SAF/IG) to remove or redact, as appropriate, all adverse actions related to the member’s refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
(5) Promotion Propriety Actions will continue processing in accordance with DAFIs 36-2501 and 36-2504 and may only be closed by Secretarial action.
(6) Current involuntary discharge proceedings will be terminated IAW the procedures in DAFI 36-3211 if the basis was solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. If there are additional circumstances supporting discharge, commanders should make a determination as to whether to continue discharge proceedings, including re-notification of discharge.
(7) Adverse actions removed under the provisions of this guidance memorandum contained in Inspector General files pursuant to AFI 90-301 will be removed from those files.
b. Processing of religious accommodation requests (RARs) requesting an exemption to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
(1) Due to the recission of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, all outstanding RARs for COVID-19 vaccination have been cancelled and will be returned without action.
(2) Individuals, whose COVID-19 RAR also requested accommodation for other mandated vaccinations, may resubmit their RAR to their unit commander for non-COVID-19 vaccinations in accordance with DAFI 52-201. Previous requests should be updated to provide any additional information the member deems relevant to the specific vaccine(s) the member is requesting an accommodation for. In order to expedite processing, members who desire to submit a new accommodation are requested to do so within 30 days.
(3) Commanders will expeditiously review and adjudicate RARs in accordance with DAFI 52-201 with the following exceptions. Upon resubmission by the member, unit commanders will review the revised package and provide a command recommendation. Following unit commander recommendation on the resubmitted package, if the RAR was previously reviewed by a Religious Resolution Team (RRT), it will be forwarded to the initial decision authority. Resubmitted RARs that were not previously reviewed by an RRT will be processed expeditiously through the DAFI 52-201 RRT process. Resubmitted RARs that were at the appellate authority will be forwarded by the unit commander to the initial decision authority. If the initial decision authority disapproves the requested accommodation, it will be forwarded directly to the appellate authority. Personnel at all levels will consider additional information provided by the applicant and the commander's recommendation.
Let me close by expressing my admiration to the men and women of this Department for the tremendous effort and accomplishments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic while also ensuring the readiness of the force and defense of the Nation. We will continue to encourage COVID-19 vaccination for all personnel to ensure readiness, facilitate mission accomplishment, and protect our people.
One Team, One Fight!
Frank Kendall
Secretary of the Air Force
UPCOMING EVENTS
All-Star Family Day / Annual Awards Presentation to be held May 6
The 507th MSG is hosting this year’s wing family day May 6. Contact SMSgt RIchele Cousins for more info on Family Day and Angi Dail for info on Annual Awards.
Resilience Opportunities during UTA
March 4 - 1000 -Suicide Prevention Training (Wing Auditorium)
Train-the-Trainer Course
If you still need to take the train the trainer course:
The 507 MSG Training Office will be hosting an Air Force Training Course on
Sunday March 5th @ 1500 in the MSG Conference room located in BLDG 1043.
Please send any questions to the 507 MSG Workflow: 507msg.workflow@us.af.mil
Professional Development Opportunities:
March 5 - 1300 -Top 3 Meeting (WgAuditorium)
March 5 - 1300 -Rising 6 (Hill Conference Center)
Aug 7 - Connect & Develop - Shaping Tomorrow’s Leaders
Sign up coming soon!
Currently looking for volunteers to help steer the event.
Reach out to the Command Chief if interested: darren.wiseman.1@us.af.mil
MyEval is Down
HAF has paused myEval for the moment. If you are due/overdue for an EPR anytime before Nov 30, please get a draft PDF to Andrea Williams ASAP via email. She will create a VPC coordination and route it for signatures, and she encourages you to get your eval done this way before they decide to bring
myEval back on-line! andrea.williams.3@us.af.mil
Chapel services available on UTA Sundays
Event: Chapel Service Date: Sunday UTA Time: 0715-0745, Location: Bldg 1094, 72nd MDG, Heritage Hall in the basement
Event: Chapel Service Date: Sunday UTA Time: 0730-0800 Location: 72nd APS Conference Rm.
Event: Bible Study Date: Sunday UTA Time: 0800 – 0830, Location: Bldg 1048, 507th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Conference Room.
Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program
Contact Tech. Sgt. Nicaela Garcia for more information about upcoming events at nicaela.garcia@us.af.mil
If you would like to submit information or photos to the On-final, email us at 507arw.pa2@us.af.mil