President Obama Seeks Truth at Food Hood – Is It Time To Seek Truth at Coast Guard Headquarters
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Barack Obama ordered a government-wide investigation into whether federal agencies, including the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community, properly handled information on alleged Fort Hood gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan before last week’s shooting that left 13 dead.
Clearly the President wants better answers to questions surrounding the Foot Hood massacre and he’s not going to take those answers solely from the Army. We wonder if it’s not time for the President to do the same with many issues inside Coast Guard. Although Ms. Terri A. Dickerson no doubt notified Rep. Elijah E. Cummings that she would miss the deadline for having the new rewrite of the Equal Opportunity Manual signed out, she is nonetheless nearing the end of two full years working on this one document.
While some progress has been made since this site broke the story in 2007 that Coast Guard Civil Rights was operating outside the strict requirements of Federal Civil Rights Laws, the EO Manual is key to future success of the program. No one in a leadership position inside Coast Guard has been held accountable for the failures of Coast Guards Civil Rights programs, in fact the Director was rewarded with a 22K bonus last year at the same time the Booz Allen Hamilton report was being released.
On 1 April 2009, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), the Charmin of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation said this about Ms. Dickerson Office of Civil Rights:
Put simply, the picture that emerges from the reports available to us shows that despite knowing that its equal opportunity programs did not ensure full compliance with U.S. law and regulations, the Coast Guard has taken little to no action to ensure full compliance.
Ms. Dickerson had been the Coast Guards Director, Office of Civil Rights for 3 years at the time of the release of the Booz Allen Hamilton report, but yet the blame was placed on legacy employees and the former Director. Members of the Senior Executive Service such as Dickerson are hired because of their ability to lead, manage and ensure thier programs success. Three years is more than ample time to ensure such success.
At this years Blacks in Government National Training Conference, Rep. Cummings expressed his undying support for Ms. Dickerson. Over two full years after the first Coast Guard employees stood up and said enough is enough and reported violations of civil rights laws up the chain of command, none have been made whole. In fact most of those who stood up were forced out of their jobs. Those who have stuck it out, continue to face acts of reprisal. Admiral Allen continues to believe his staff reports that those employees are “simply crazy.” Really … everything the crazy folks were saying up the chain of command was confirmed in the Booz Allen Hamilton report, but they’re the crazy ones. Seems to us that Allen favors supporting fraud, waste and abuse over his own Guardian Ethos.
Possibly it’s time for President Obama to intervene on behalf of these employees and demand a full and independent accounting of how Admiral Thad Allen handled this chapter of his legacy. Maybe Allen should go on his own fact finding tour.
It’s not too late for his legacy to be more than Katrina.
What’s up with every Flag Officer wanting a Black Flag Aide? What’s the message. Black junior officers need a helping hand up or are they window dressing.
“See we like blacks, we make them our aides.” Join the Coast Guard and serve a white guy? Give me a f*#@&%* break.
Black, female or Hispanic… take a look around the front office staffs and there is a disproportionate number of minorities and women. Very few front-office admin personnel go far in their career – just take a look at history. May be high-viz, but an officer selection board sees the difference between a bag carrier getting 7s from a 1, 2, or 3-star and a marine inspector getting 5s from a O-5.
Now back to the blog subjet… who gives a rats petut about Cummings? He represents the least diverse Congressional district in Maryland – full of crime, criminals, corruption and lowest on the totem pole in the great equalizer – EDUCATION. You want people to have opportunity, then focus on educating them. Hey, that might just increase the candidate pool for the Academy too.
So what if EEO missed a reporting timeline, is there an EEO problem in the organization beyond a cluster-f in CG-OOH? Dickerson and her predecessors inability to lead an office of 40 does not mean there are wide-spread problems. Take a look at the workforce cultural data captured every other year by OPM in the oganizations assessment tool. A high response rate and no statistical difference in Diversity or Fairness across gender, race, or ethnicity.
Maybe CG Report should FOIA that!
Have you gone off the deep end? Though there are no doubt a few minority Flag aids in the service I can’t beleive you are trying to insinuate that they are of a lower category… I’d evem say you’re close to calling them slaves to the Flags. The position of an aid is a coveted one- shame on you for trying to twist such a position… shame on you.
it’s called “mandatory diversity”. Since the CG got their ass handed to them by Congressman Cummings, we now are going the opposite direction to force increased diversity in OCS, Academy, Promotions, mandatory diversity strategic plans, mandatory attendance at “diversity events” by all senior officers and command cadre. Not all a bad thing, just seems like we get fixated on one thing, put the pedal to metal in that direction regardless of whether it makes complete sense (i.e. modernization and the current cluster we have with the ISC breakup and the plethora of contractors and civilians hired in CG-8 to “fix” our CFO Audit standings – which we still suck at).
Anon,
To those of us who are back, it has been a complete surprise to hear Flag Officers including Adm. Allen talk about how many senior Flag Officer now have African American Aides. This came up at the second hearing in June on Civil Rights on the Hill too.
Trust me, we’re glad to have the jobs but we don’t want to hear our selection described like picking out puppies.
To What?:
Nobodys gone off the deep end. The point is that minority representation on flag staffs is out of propotion with minority representation in the officer corps. Do you disagree?
Flag aide positions are coveted? Since when – sure some high flyers have been aides, but take a look at CGHQ aide performance in promotion boards and selection for top notch jobs. If flag aide positions at CGHQ were so coveted, why is it that so few high flying JOs take them for a 2nd or 3rd tour?
No offense to minority and female offices, but turn down these jobs and stick to a tour in a speciality that makes you competitive. Hold out for the bag-carrying duty after you’ve made your mark in aviation, cutters, or marine safety. Once you are part of a community, then take a shot at the flag tour and the associated perks of seeing how the leadership works.
As luck would have it you get a black moderator tonight. We have much work to do in a service that has a long way to go. We had to create our own diversity initiatives and after congress shit the big one on Vice Admiral Breckenridge. Our back room project became Coast Guards Ambassador program. That would not have happened had this site not pushed the issue before congress.
Of course then-RADM Breckenridge was rewarded with a third star for her non-performance before Congress. Is there any accountability in the Coast Guard or is it just a concept inherent in the other four Armed Services?
It is the responsibility of the DHS and CG Complaints Manager to analyze complaints – to look at prima facie, rebuttals, testimony, documentation – and offer recommendations for management consideration. There are numerous complaints and grievances which have been filed by employees in the Directorate of Civil Rights. I can understand that it would be a conflict of interest for the CG complaints manager to assess complaint files … but surely the Commandant could task other neutral officials to review ALL files and records [counselor reports, reports of investigations, settlements, grievances] and get to the root of the problems.
Why is DHS asleep at the wheel on this? Providing constant testimony is becoming drudgework for staff … why tell the truth when no one wants to deal with it and all you get is retaliation? If any Flag officer had a quarter of the problems the current SES has had, that Flag would have been removed. Is Coast Guard so PC about race that it’s afraid to take the right action? Just consider Fort Hood.
Because DHS is the unindicted co-conspirator Anonymous!!! But don’t expect this site to care about it or cover it for they care more about wasting their investigatory resources on some civilian loser with no control over CG personnel and no real CG connection. I truly hope Thomas Jackson gets back into blogging with his own site and soon, Jerry Johnson is turning this site into cgblog lite!
Maybe there is no real reaction from DHS, the CG Commandant and CG senior staff on the Booz Allen report on civil rights because the Coast Guard amended then published report we have all read. From the factual errors presented in the report, it does not appear to be a professionally produced document but rather appears to be an effort to “cover someone’s backside” by smearing everybody else type of thing. It would be beneficial if Booz Allen produced their original report and analysis. To do so would absolve Booz Allen from the stain of Coast Guard malfeasance. Congressman Cummins, if he really wants to do something, should require Booz Allen to produce every document and note on the civil rights review. The work that Booz Allen did during the so-called functional review may not be proprietary since this company makes it contracted federal money by being paid with taxpayer dollars.
Art,
There is no question but that you are right. However, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings already tried to get Booz Allen Hamilton to testify, and they declined. He could require them to testify under congressional subpoena but he’s not willing to go that far.
Cummings has already stated his support for Ms. Dickerson, she’s protected. The only thing that will bring this chapter of Coast Guards history to a close is the looming Class Action against Admiral Thad Allen (et all DHS). over 14 current and past employees with the same story to tell.