From: 436 FSS/CC
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 4:19 PM
To: 436 FSS Personnel Only
Subject: //ACTION/ROUTINE//Religious Endorsement

FSS Team,

Recently an email regarding a volunteer opportunity was forwarded to the entire 436 Force Support Squadron. The invitation included in that email also contained language supporting the Christian faith and encouraged participation in this event as an act of Christian faith. I want to be absolutely clear that the email in question was not sent at my direction and is not endorsed in any way by me or any level of command.

AFMAN 33-152 governs permissible uses of government email. Messages can be sent on behalf of base chartered private organizations (e.g. Top 3) and can be sent to notify personnel of events of common interest (e.g. off-base Veteran's Day parade). However, such messages cannot violate the Joint Ethics Regulation, which prohibits the endorsement of non-Federal entity or event by a DoD employee in their official capacity. Such messages also cannot appear to provide command endorsement of a particular religion.

Moving forward, before using government email to announce non-Federal events, all FSS team members will coordinate any announcement through our First Sergeant.

I appreciate that many members of our unit volunteer their off-duty time in our community in many different ways, and I encourage you to continue doing so as you see fit. However, when government resources, such as email are involved, it is everyone's responsibility to know what is and is not permissible according to law and regulation. If anyone is unclear about what is required, please contact me or the First Sergeant.

Thanks for all you do every day for all of the Team Dover Family.

v/r
Lt Col Tasker

Donald C. Tasker, III, Lt Col, USAF
Commander, 436th Force Support Squadron
Dover AFB, DE

"FSS...The Best Never Rest"

FSS Vision: Dover Family--Fit, Developed, Resilient