Federal law sets high standards for all Air Force leaders Published Aug. 12, 2010 By Lt. Col. Jeremy Weber 30th Space Wing Staff Judge Advocate VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Air Force commanders and supervisors are aware that they are expected to demonstrate the highest level of leadership and morality. What these leaders may not know, however, is that these expectations are not just part of our culture. They are the law. A little-known provision in Title 10 of the United States Code, Section 8583, sets forth certain requirements of all "commanding officers and others in authority in the Air Force." It requires these leaders to meet the following standards: 1) Show in themselves a good example of virtue, honor, patriotism, and subordination; 2) Be vigilant in inspecting the conduct of all persons who are placed under their command; 3) Guard against and suppress all dissolute and immoral practices, and to correct, according to the laws and regulations of the Air Force, all persons who are guilty of them; and 4) Take all necessary and proper measures , under the laws, regulations, and customs of the Air Force, to promote and safeguard the morale, the physical well-being, and the general welfare of the officers and enlisted persons under their command or charge. Congress passed this law, termed the "exemplary conduct" requirement, in 1997. The Navy and Marine Corps had a similar standard in place since 1775, when John Adams drafted Article I of the Navy Regulations. That standard had been placed into law in 1956. While the Army and Air Force adopted their own internal standards for conduct, Congress had never formalized standards for these services. In 1997, however, Congress decided to remedy this situation. In the aftermath of what the Department of Defense Inspector General termed "various sexual misconduct scandals of the 1990s," Congress re-applied the Navy-Marine Corps standards to all the military services. The report that accompanied the Senate version of the bill is particularly enlightening. It states: The committee is disappointed to note that, in the past several years, some officers have shown reluctance to accept responsibility and accountability for their actions and the actions of their subordinates. This provision will not prevent an officer from shunning responsibility or accountability for an action or event. It does, however, establish a very clear standard by which Congress and the nation can measure officers of our military services. The committee holds military officers to a higher standard than other members of society. The nation entrusts its greatest resource, our young men and women, to our military officers. In return, the nation deserves complete integrity, moral courage, and the highest moral and ethical conduct. The House version of the bill would have extended these requirements to the civilian leadership in the military chain of command (the President and Secretary of Defense). The Senate amendment, however, contained no similar provision. The compromise between the Senate and House ultimately did not impose the same exemplary conduct requirements on civilian military leadership, though the House did express its sense that civilian members of the military chain of command should demonstrate the same example of virtue, honor, patriotism and subordination as military leaders. The exemplary conduct statute demonstrates that our nation expects the highest level of moral courage from its Air Force leaders. It is the responsibility of each one of us to live up to these expectations.