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Airmen speak out against reflective belts

Complain all you want. It won’t do you any good. That reflective belt that offends your sensibilities isn’t going away.

The Air Force is standing firm on the uniform accessory you love to hate: You will wear a neon yellow strap on base to keep you from getting run over in the dark.

“We believe our current policy is solid, and we believe it is valid,” said Paul Carlisle, acting deputy chief of Air Force ground safety. “When [airmen] wear the reflective equipment properly, it provides a significant increase in visibility.”

The reflective belt has been around — no pun intended — for decades and the safety policy in place since at least 2004. But you didn’t start venting your frustration so publicly until August, when a bored airman created an “I Hate Reflective Belts” page on the social networking site Facebook.

The airman, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, shared the page with just 10 friends. Today, with the help of a little media buzz, the Facebook group numbers more than 16,000 and is still growing.

Part of the page’s popularity no doubt is because of the images: George Washington in a reflective belt crossing the Delaware; Santa and Frosty the Snowman, their reflective belts cinched tight below their tummies; a C-17 belted up; and a group shot of 11 airmen — glowing in the dark — with the words “Reflectivity Above All.”

The airman, though, suspects an undercurrent of resentment toward the Air Force is what really keeps the page hot. Enlisted airmen and junior officers, he theorizes, are especially fed up with commanders who obsessively enforce a stricter wear rule for the war zones. Air Forces Central Command, the air component of U.S. Central Command, requires airmen in duty uniform to wear their reflective belts from dusk to dawn, although installation commanders can designate “non-wear” areas.

“They feel it’s a lack of personal responsibility,” said the Facebook group creator, who is commissioned. “You can’t walk out of your dorm and walk to a restroom 4 feet away without having [a reflective belt] on.”

The rancor has spilled over to other Web sites. When FlightLines mentioned the anti-belt movement, the reaction was equally intense.

“Leadership has made the wear of these disco belts the top, deny you entry to the chow hall, issue in the AOR [area of responsibility]. Ridiculous, pathetic, and embarrassing,” a user identifying himself as “J” wrote in response to the blog post.

In a letter to Air Force Times, Capt. Dominic Barberi drove home the point about leadership in the war zones:

“It kills morale when some [master sergeant] with nothing better to do rips into you for not wearing your reflective belt to get up and walk to the bathroom 100 yards away in the middle of the night while you are half asleep and there is not a road or a car in sight,” wrote Barberi, who is stationed at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. “Why does the Air Force insist on treating its supposedly ‘high-quality airmen’ like children?”

Base by base

The rules at Al Udeid, home of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, have quite a few airmen besides Barberi riled up.

On Oct. 29, Vice Commander Col. Paul Schultz ordered all group and squadron commanders, as well as chief master sergeants, to enforce the uniform and safety standards at all buildings on base, including the dining halls, gyms and base exchanges. Any airman not wearing his reflective belt, Schultz wrote in an e-mail, should be told to “go back and get into proper uniform.”

In a statement to Air Force Times, Schultz wrote that his directive has “created a stir” but was motivated by safety concerns.

“Both the installation commander and I are charged with ensuring all personnel assigned to this location are safe, which is a role I take very seriously,” Schultz wrote.

Other air bases overseas but far from the fighting also stress the importance of wearing a reflective belt.

Osan Air Base, South Korea, and Lajes Field, Azores, require airmen to wear their belts during hours of low visibility.

Stateside, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, posted a note online reminding airmen that they must wear their reflective belts “while in uniform during hours of limited visibility” and that they should be belt cops themselves.

“More than once, you have probably been driving through a parking lot early in the morning and almost run over a pedestrian not wearing their reflective belt,” the note warns. “[I]f you see someone not wearing their reflective belt during the prescribed times, please give them a friendly reminder to put their belt on. You may have just prevented the next ground mishap at Elmendorf.”

Moody Air Force Base, Ga., requires pedestrians to wear reflective vests or belts when they’re out walking or running after dark. Safety posters remind airmen of the rule.

The policy was developed years ago because many roadways are not lit after dark and have no sidewalks, said Moody spokeswoman 2nd Lt. Chelsey Garrison, and “the reflective belt policy hasn’t been identified as an issue to change or remove.”

Sprinkling of supporters

While most of the hundreds of posts on www.airforcetimes.com and dozens of letters to Air Force Times had little good to say about reflective belts, a handful wholeheartedly endorsed the safety rule. A few more gave a nod to the logic behind the policy but stopped short of supporting it

Tech. Sgt. Adam Surovick put himself into the all-in camp.

“People just complain because they don’t see how it benefits them,” Surovick argued in an e-mail to Air Force Times. “If people didn’t wear them, more lives would be lost. … Stop crying about wearing something that can save your life.”

Ricky Tiernan, a civilian nurse with the Air Force, begrudgingly acknowledged the belts are a good idea but still doesn’t like putting one around his waist.

“I understand their purpose and safety first, as always, but I hate wearing them,” wrote Tiernan, who works at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. “I would think they [are] less effective than their emphasis suggests.”

Capt. Ryan Cengeri, stationed at Hurlburt Field, Fla., wrote that he thinks there is a time and place for reflective belts, but that the Air Force spends too much time and energy on belts and other less important issues.

“Feelings of loathing for the reflective belts are not simply a reaction to an isolated instance of ridiculousness, but rather the built-up frustration from countless frivolous requirements,” he wrote. “The popularity of the ‘I Hate Reflective Belts’ group on Facebook is in fact a very real indicator of sentiments that are much more widespread than most wish to acknowledge.”

The group’s creator echoed Cengeri, calling on commanders to treat airmen like the adults they are.

“During hours of darkness, in places that are not well-lit, it’s perfectly understandable,” he said. “[But] they don’t think we can be personally responsible and take care of ourselves. Let people use their common sense.”

‘Safety is No. 1’

Official Air Force safety policy requires airmen to wear reflective belts while near traffic or on the flight line when it’s dark out and “running near traffic from 1 hour before sunset to 1 hour after sunrise.” Beyond that, the wearing of reflective belts is at the discretion of installation commanders.

“Commanders always have authority to assess the situation and make a more stringent policy if warranted,” according to Paul Carlisle, acting deputy chief of Air Force ground safety.

Carlisle said the Air Force knows about the “I Hate Reflective Belts” group but declined to comment further on the anti-belt movement.

“Safety is No. 1,” he said, “and that’s why we established the policy. It does, in fact, save lives.”

Carlisle cited a 2004 New Zealand study to prove the effectiveness of reflective clothing. The study found motorcycle riders who wore fluorescent material lowered their risk of being in an accident by 37 percent. Pedestrians weren’t included in the research.

Almost 50 percent of pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. occur between 6 p.m. and midnight, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Studies show a motorist driving 60 mph will not see a pedestrian in dark clothing until he is 55 feet away, and a vehicle traveling at that speed needs 260 feet to stop safely.