Standards countdown to CUI

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Shawn Andrews
  • 14th Operations Group First Sergeant
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  One of the items that the 14th Flying Training Wing will be graded on during the upcoming Consolidated Unit Inspection is the wing's overall compliance with standards. This is different than the many checklists that your duty section may be running. This is an area that each person reading this column can impact.

As part of the Team BLAZE build-up to the upcoming CUI, this will be a continuing piece highlighting different standards in each article. The standards discussed may be under-practiced, little known, or perhaps forgotten.

While some topics may seem trivial to the reader, see how many violators you notice as you go about your business throughout the wing. Each of you are encouraged to educate your peers on the topics, and correct those that are not compliant well before the 2013 CUI.

Did You Know?

- Fingernails: (AFI 36-2908, para 3.2) Here's a shocker: males are not authorized to wear nail polish. For females, polish will be a single color that does not distinctly contrast with her complexion, detract from the uniform, or be extreme colors. Fingernails must not exceed ΒΌ inch in length beyond the tip of the finger. So, while fashionable as they may be, those inch-long sparkly nails are not authorized.

- Saluting: While many of us, by now, may consider ourselves experts at the time-honored tradition of the military hand salute, I see instances on a daily basis where many of even the most practiced of us don't get it completely right. The issue is not with passing a superior officer while walking around the installation (though some of you need to be a bit more observant. The issue lies with the front license plate which prominently displays an eagle (or stars). Yes...the staff car. In case there is any misconception - posted sentries at the installation's entry control points are not the only military members required to salute these government vehicles. All military members in uniform are required to render the hand salute to occupied Government Operated Vehicles that bear distinguishing plates of a senior officer (AFI 34-1201, fig 8.1). Yes, this means those blue Ford Hybrids, the one with the white top, and even some of the GOV busses from time to time (which the IG team will likely ride in). If you're close enough to notice an occupant - pop a salute!

If you have questions about, or would like more information on, any of the above standards, see your first sergeant!