It was drafted to clarify the custom and the standards of conduct for maintaining professional relationships in the Air Force. Gen. Robert A. McIntosh, AFRC commander. When previous ways of doing business do not meet these standards, supervisors must personally get involved and make immediate corrections. Today s standards of conduct will not allow us to separate our civilian and military lives as easily as we could in the past. The expectation of today s Air Force is that we are representatives of the Air Force for more than our duty days.
Unprofessional relationships can occur either on or off duty.
As a general rule, personal relationships between Air Force members are normally matters of individual choice and judgment. They become matters of official concern when they adversely affect the Air Force. One person might not see anything wrong with the way two people interact with one another, while another person might perceive their relationship to be extremely unprofessional. However, just one person who thinks his or her supervisor is showing favoritism to a co-worker can negatively impact the mission. While pointing out that some personal relationships are unprofessional only after taking other facts or circumstances into consideration, AFI 36-2909 does do a good job of spelling out some things Air Force members need to avoid.