Chatting on Air Force Portal requires decorum Published March 20, 2006 By Tech. Sgt. David A. Jablonski Air Force Print News WASHINGTON (USAFENS) -- Airmen are chatting it up in growing numbers using the Air Force Portal’s instant messaging service. But recent inappropriate comments made by some Airmen in chat rooms led officials to clarify responsible communication over the service. “The majority of the 7,000 plus Airmen using (Air Force Instant Messenger) in a given week are using it exactly as it was intended,” said Maj. David Gindhart, Air Staff lead for the portal. “Unfortunately, a small group of individuals forgot that our core values, military decorum and professionalism still apply when in a chat room.” Using the instant messaging service should be viewed in the same professional light as any other means of formal correspondence, said Col. Steven Spano, U.S. Air Forces in Europe Communications and Information director. “The Air Force Instant Messenger is a wonderful collaborative tool that our USAFE members can use to exchange information,” he said. “However, everyone still has the responsibility to continue to apply the same sound judgment to your AFIM conversations as you would for your official e-mail or telephone conversations. If the conversation is inappropriate for your office environment, it is inappropriate for the AFIM as well.” Officials in the Air Force chief information office recently defined inappropriate use and clarified chat guidelines. Inappropriate use includes sexual harassment, sexually explicit, or racist dialogue. In addition, while the instant messenger supports informal dialogue, the Air Force military rank structure establishes expectations for leader responsibility and accountability. Air Force Instruction 33-129, Web Management and Internet Use, covers the use of Internet resources by government employees. Military Equal Opportunity, AFI 36-2706, describes the limits of professional communication. Certain controls and conditions have also been added, officials said. A warning banner reminds Airmen they have no expectation of privacy and use of the system is consent to monitoring. The service is limited to official and authorized appropriate use and cannot contain classified information or operational security information. Chats may be logged, creating an official record. A self-monitoring system allows users to report misuse, but other forms of monitoring will take place, officials said. Besides defining inappropriate use, officials listed specific prohibitions: -- Activity that causes system degradation. -- Inappropriate or offensive material. -- Illegal activities. -- Sexually explicit or sexually oriented material. -- Business, fundraising, lobbying or political activities. -- Abuse of intellectual property rights. While some chat rooms violating the standards have been shut down, the recent and pending changes to AFIM should have little impact on USAFE users, said Master Sgt. Ken Holcomb, USAFE Portal Content manager. “We encourage our USAFE members to keep using the AFIM tool for official and other appropriate communications.” he said. “It just needs to be done responsibly and be in line with Air Force policy, standards and core values.” Some examples of appropriate room names and purposes allowed include: “AF Golfing” – chat room to share information about Air Force golf course and discuss golf topics “3CX Career Field” – chat room to share information about 3CX career field across the Air Force “RAF Lakenheath” – chat room to discuss life, activities and events at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England “If you're uncomfortable with the behavior in a chat room, or find it incompatible with Air Force core values, please don't hesitate to use the self-monitoring and reporting functions we’ve installed,” Major Gindhart said.