Members of the 86th Safety Forces Squadron run at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, April 20, 2022. Base officers are investigating allegations put forth on social media accusing a safety forces airman of providing a bribe to cross a bodily coaching check. ((Trevor Rhynes/U.S. Air Pressure))
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Ramstein Air Base leaders are investigating allegations that an airman tried to bribe officers into issuing a passing rating on an annual bodily health check.
A spokesman for the 86th Airlift Wing acknowledged in an electronic mail to Stars and Stripes on Tuesday that an investigation is underway however declined to offer particulars whereas it’s energetic.
Final week, social media customers who mentioned they’re affiliated with the 86th Safety Forces Squadron at Ramstein Air Base anonymously alleged a cover-up of the undisclosed disciplinary infraction and described plummeting morale among the many ranks of the army police unit.
“An 86th SFS SNCO right here at Ramstein received caught bribing the tester to alter pt numbers so they’d meet requirements and never fail,’” one commenter mentioned on the favored Amn/NCO/SNCO Fb web page.
Unit members are answerable for safety at one of many Protection Division’s largest abroad installations and one of many Air Pressure’s busiest air transportation hubs.
Bribery is punishable by court-martial beneath the Uniform Code of Navy Justice.
The nameless commenter wrote on the Amn/NCO/SNCO Fb web page that following the incident, bodily coaching for the unit was considerably elevated, which positioned a further burden on already overworked airmen.
“As an alternative of punishing particular person and holding them accountable, the airmen are actually required to attend extra pt so nobody else is in the identical scenario to fail,” the commenter mentioned.
One other put up to the Fb web page shared an official memorandum outlining the bodily coaching program for the unit’s operations and coaching flight.
The July 27 memo establishes bodily health coaching 3 times per week for all these members scoring beneath 95% on recurring squadron-internal health exams. These assembly the 95% rating must lead one session per week, in line with the memo.
A base spokesman confirmed the memo’s authenticity Tuesday and mentioned the coverage is a part of a number of initiatives designed to make sure compliance with bodily stamina and fight readiness necessities. The spokesman added that health packages are “consistently evaluated.”
One other commenter figuring out themselves as a member of the 86th Safety Forces Squadron mentioned the elevated bodily coaching load has lengthened work schedules, maintaining safety forces members at work from 4:30 a.m. to eight p.m. on some shifts.
“(I don’t care) who you’re, these make for lengthy days,” the nameless commenter mentioned. “It’s robust to persuade Airman to remain in (safety forces) once they have mates their identical rank in different profession fields working half the time making the identical cash.”
Whereas safety forces models are identified for demanding obligation schedules that ask them to man mission-essential safety posts across the clock, the wing mentioned there isn’t a blanket demand for extreme hours.
“No requirement exists for 86 SFS Airmen to stay at work for a 17.5 hour day,” a spokesman wrote in an electronic mail. Unit leaders “maximize schedule flexibility and guarantee our Airmen should not working pointless hours,” the e-mail mentioned.
The final annual inquiry into the unit’s morale and local weather was a web-based survey final summer time throughout Operation Allied Refuge, when safety airmen labored lengthy hours to assist home 1000’s of Afghan refugees after the U.S.-backed authorities in Kabul fell to the Taliban.
The suggestions mirrored “the elevated operational tempo of that particular timeframe,” a wing spokesman wrote in an electronic mail Tuesday.
“Unit management and the Safety Forces profession area proceed to pursue quality-of-life enhancements for our Defenders and their households,” the e-mail assertion mentioned.
