How good or bad were your relationships with people from diverse backgrounds during your time in the military?

2015-06-04T10:46:23-04:00

Did it help with your interactions with any tip of individual military or civilian sectors?

Response by Col Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 4 at 2015 10:48 AM

2015-06-04T10:48:47-04:00

my relationships in the military with people of diverse backgrounds help shape me to who I am today.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 4 at 2015 10:50 AM

2015-06-04T10:50:24-04:00

I didn't judge others initially. I always stood back to see how they acted. If they were "piss poor" morally, then I typically did not get along w/ them outside of a working relationship. I generally had good relationships & steered clear of the airmen "flying below radar" that typically were facing some form of punishment w/in a couple of months.

Response by SGT Kevin Brown made Jun 4 at 2015 11:43 AM

2015-06-04T11:43:14-04:00

Honestly Mr. Culbreath, I don't fully understand your question. If you are talking about people who's backgrounds are different then mine, then that was just about every soldier/service member I ever served alongside of. If you are talking about different skin colors, I always used the philosophy that we were all green, that seemed to work out pretty well until I ran into the occasional racist (white that hated blacks or black that hated whites). With civilians I use a similar philosophy that we are all dogs; we come in different sizes, colors and have different culturally dominant physical features, but we are all still dogs, no matter what breed we claim (just replace dogs with humans). If I am way off mark here, please let me know so I can better answer your question.

For the most part, whenever I interacted with any other soldier/service member or civilian I took the same approach I do today and that is to respect them always, begin gauging their character immediately and structuring our relationship based on their character presented.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 4 at 2015 12:04 PM

2015-06-04T12:04:19-04:00

They were actually pretty good. I think that the shared experiences of basic training, leaving home, MOSQ/A-School, etc create a good foundation for talking to anyone from anywhere.

Response by MSgt James Mullis made Jun 4 at 2015 12:10 PM

2015-06-04T12:10:57-04:00

One of the things I liked about the Air Force was that almost everyone I met and worked with had a different background then me. Issues such as race, religion, sex, education, economics, or even sexual orientation never really played an important part in either my social or work life. What counted was competence, diligence, and honesty. In the two different areas of my post military career (nonprofit healthcare and state government) I found similar levels of integration, with a slightly lower tolerance for personal differences. One notable problem for both was that unlike the military, most civilian organizations do not train leaders, but hire people into leadership positions (which can be a hit or miss process).

Response by Sgt David G Duchesneau made Jun 4 at 2015 9:54 PM

2015-06-04T21:54:45-04:00

I had great relationships and we covered each others ass!

Response by SPC Ei McS made Jun 5 at 2015 7:19 AM

2015-06-05T07:19:34-04:00

I didn't care what background they came from. They came from a diverse background. I cared about our common mission and how we worked together.

Response by SMSgt Lawrence McCarter made Nov 6 at 2016 11:52 PM

2016-11-06T23:52:27-05:00

i figure Everyone is Ok until they themselves prove otherwise. Some people prove it quickly and there isn't much You can do to influence that. Most people are fine, the thing that makes people interesting is they aren't all the same. I think that would be pretty boring. besides clones of Me ? that would be scary ! Being all part of the same team towards the same goals for work or just enjoying the company of those You may not actually work with. This all helps You enjoy life and keep it interesting.