The Air Force's top uniformed leader is calling for a new emphasis on reviewing and enforcing existing standards and policies, ranging from following safety regulations and calling formations during which troops' uniforms and appearance will be inspected.
In a video to the troops released Friday but provided early to Military.com, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said it became clear during his travels to bases across the country with Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Flosi, the service's top enlisted leader, that there was often confusion about policies and regulations and they were not being followed equally across the board.
"In the weeks and months to come, we're going to be reviewing some of these policies, the waivers and the exceptions … to ensure that they are easy to understand, easy to comply with and easy to enforce," Allvin said in the video. "And, along the way, we want to ensure they are aligned across our entire United States Air Force."
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Allvin's video comes in the wake of several recent standards-related initiatives. In October, following several flight line mishaps, officials said aircraft maintainers would now be asked to sign non-disclosure agreements to receive privileged safety information. And this past summer, the head of Air Combat Command called for widespread uniform inspections, saying in a statement that "even the smallest discrepancies cumulatively degrade our discipline and effectiveness."
Last March, the service summarized a swath of uniform, grooming and dress changes it had made in recent years, covering hair and mustache length, neck tattoos, nail polish color and eyelash extensions.
In the video, Allvin said that he is directing that, "episodically, we have the formations come together in uniform" to examine that those are being followed and also brief the force on the latest policies and standards.
"The first thing is to be able to look at yourself, look at your teammate, hold yourself and him or her accountable to ensure that you're in standards," Allvin said. "At the same time, it offers the opportunity for the command leadership to be able to share the very latest and the updated guidance so we are all on the same sheet of music."
Investigations into some high-profile and expensive mishaps have blamed unit culture and airmen not adhering to standards as causal factors.
One example was revealed this summer: An accident report into what caused a B-1B Lancer to crash in January 2024 at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota highlighted "an unhealthy organizational culture that permitted degradation of airmanship skills" as one contributing factor in the incident.
While not disclosing specifically what might be behind the new call to standards, Allvin said in the video that not having clear guidance across the service can lead to grave mistakes.
"As airmen decide for themselves whether they should comply with the tech order or safety regulations or other instructions, they may make the wrong choice -- that's uninformed -- and the damage is to property, is to our equipment, but most importantly, we get airmen injured or killed," Allvin said. "That's what's at stake, and that is what is driving some of these decisions."
In a July video to the force, Allvin informed troops that the service lost 47 airmen and $1.5 billion in material and weapon systems through preventable mishaps over just 12 months.
Allvin has told wing commanders to expect the first round of updates on the policy and standards review within 90 days, as decisions are still being made.
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