PART 1 - GRADUATION FROM THE DEFENSE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
I graduated from the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) at Patrick Air Force Base, Cocoa Beach, Florida, in the top 10
percent of my class. The intense training at DEOMI in human relations, equal opportunity, and diversity tested me in ways I never thought possible. It reshaped and molded me into a teacher, a mentor, a psychiatrist, a mediator, and more of a leader than I thought I could ever become. My confidence and determination instilled in me an unwavering belief that I would be no less than successful. I looked forward to my new job as an Army Equal Opportunity Advisor (EOA).
MY ASSIGNMENT AS AN ARMY EO ADVISOR
I was assigned as an Army EOA to the EO Office, G1, V Corps, Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg, Germany. This assignment was my second tour of duty to Heidelberg.
Returning to Heidelberg held bittersweet memories for me. Previously, I was an Army stenographer at HQ USAREUR in the Office of the CINCUSAREUR in the Keyes Building on Campbell Barracks. I had the privilege of working for two of the best four-star generals in the United States Army: General Frederick J. Kroesen and General Glenn K. Otis.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS TO BEING AN ARMY EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ADVISOR
My assignment to an EO office in Heidelberg put me at the top of my professional career and aligned with my personal military goals. I anxiously awaited the hard work ahead of me with confidence and determination. I knew I would be a fish out of water going into this new and challenging field. My current field of military intelligence was demanding enough, but this new career field would be a different ballgame.
MEETING THE V CORPS EO STAFF REVEALED SEVERAL RED FLAGS
I went to my new EO office in Building 5 on Campbell Barracks to introduce myself and speak with the V Corps EO sergeant major. I needed to inform him of my in-processing progress. Another NCO, also a Black female and a DEOMI classmate of mine, accompanied me.
As I walked down the hallway, I saw a white male standing at the door of the V Corps EO office. When I got near him, I introduced myself to him as the new EOA. He told me that he was the V Corps EO sergeant major. He shook my hand to welcome me, but I noticed one odd thing about him. He raised his eyebrows as if unpleasantly surprised by my arrival. THIS WAS MY FIRST RED FLAG
I introduced my colleague to the V Corps EO sergeant major. I saw no drama there. Then a major, another white male, came to the door. The V Corps EO sergeant major introduced the major to my friend and me as the officer in charge of the V Corps EO office.
TWO MORE RED FLAGS about the V Corps EO major flashed before me. He never looked me in the eyes, and his handshake felt like a wet mop in my hands.
I must mention that my dad taught me a very valuable lesson at an early age. He told me that I could tell a man's character by his handshake. Shaking hands with the white major revealed one critical thing. He lacked character because of his limp handshake, which felt like a wet mop. I sensed that he did not want to touch my hand.
The white V Corps EO major stood by in the hallway while I explained my processing difficulties to the V Corps EO sergeant major. I remember that the EO sergeant major pursed his lips and looked away as I spoke to him. I was offended because I had no idea why he did that. It bothered me because the detached look on his face told me that he was not listening to me.
Adding insult to injury, the EO sergeant major abruptly cut me off and started raising his voice and yelling at me like I was some kind of fucking private. I almost lost it, but I maintained my military professionalism, which was hard for me to do. I felt so embarrassed, especially in front of my NCO friend.
I didn't know if the EO sergeant major yelled at me because I was a Black woman with another woman of color or for some other insane reason. I couldn't wrap my head around his behavior. I had some news for him if he thought he could intimidate me because I was a woman.
While the V Corps EO sergeant major yelled at me, the white V Corps EO major just stood there with his arms folded and a goofy smirk on his face. He seemed to enjoy the sergeant major ranting at me. Not surprisingly, I felt that the V Corps EO sergeant major enjoyed embarrassing me in front of the V Corps EO major, who said nothing to correct the EO sergeant major's behavior. THIS WAS MY NEXT RED FLAG
THE V CORPS EO MAJOR
The V Corps EO major's behavior and beady eyes made him appear sneaky. I knew that I could not trust him and that I had to watch my back in more ways than one. My experience in the Army with Black and White officers and enlisted personnel taught me how to handle misogynistic bullies. Unfortunately, these two white men would be my rater and supervisor. I knew I had my work cut out for me as an EO Advisor. Fortunately, I knew how to make my way through this potential minefield.
THE V CORPS EO SERGEANT MAJOR
Regardless of why the EO sergeant major yelled at me, I had to address his unprofessional behavior towards me. In my mind, the EO sergeant was a bully. I had to let him know that I commanded respect as a female senior noncommissioned officer.
The minute he calmed down, I jumped in. I looked him straight in his eyes, a move that caught his attention. I pressed on to ask, "Excuse me, Sergeant Major, can I speak to you in private, please?" Looking clueless, he responded with, "Sure. We can go next door to the empty office." My NCO friend remained at the door in the hallway with the EO major.
The EO sergeant major walked me to the room and opened the door. I followed him in. After he closed the door, I didn't know exactly what I would say to him. All I knew was that I had to set him straight about his behavior and attitude towards me.
His face revealed that he didn't know what to expect next from me. With confidence, I spoke to him with courtesy and respect in a normal tone of voice, something he never afforded me. Truthfully, I wanted to scream and curse him at the top of my lungs. I wanted to give him a different taste of his own damn medicine, but I didn't.
Since he didn't listen to me the first time, I repeated what I said to him in the hallway about my in-processing issues. I kept eye contact with him the entire time to let him know I was serious and was not afraid of him.
I got bold and added, "Sergeant Major, I did not appreciate you talking to me like that. You can chew my ass out coming and going if I ever do anything wrong. But it was unprofessional of you to speak to me like that in front of the EO major. Don't ever talk to me like that again, especially in front of another senior noncommissioned officer." I felt like I was giving a private an ass chewing.
His eyes got wide as I spoke to him. I didn't think he was prepared for what I said to him. But, he understood where I was coming from. He held his head down, then looked at me and said, "OK, I'm sorry. It won't happen again, Sergeant Metz." I said, "OK, sergeant major."
By then, he knew I wasn't a Black woman that he could push around or easily intimidate. His behavior proved that he had gotten away with this type of behavior towards women before. But no one put him in check until I came along. He knew he couldn't railroad and bully me anytime he wanted to.
I realized that he was an EO Sergeant Major with a background in the transportation corps. By nature of the transportation corps beast, he was used to yelling at young soldiers and barking orders at NCOs. They probably cringed and cowered at his drill-sergeant heavy-handed bullying attitude. But not me.
He opened the door for me, and we went back to the hallway where my friend and the EO major were still standing. As expected, the EO major said nothing. I said goodbye to both of them and left with my friend.
I was steaming when I left. I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into with this assignment. My friend wanted to know what had happened. She knew me, and she knew I set him straight. I avoided giving her the details. As far as I was concerned, the matter was closed.
I left with a bad feeling about working in that office. I could not believe that I had graduated from the Army's EO school and had to face adversity on day one of my tour as an EO Advisor. I knew that my previous military experiences would get me through this. I had met and overcome many challenges based on my race, my gender, and my age.
Further into my tour as an EO Advisor at V Corps, I had no problems with the V Corps sergeant major after that conversation. I was proud of myself for standing up to him and getting my point across to him. He didn't have to like me, but he would respect me.
THE V CORPS EO SERGEANT MAJOR
The EO sergeant major stood at a lanky 6'3". I was 5'3". His height didn't intimidate me. He looked unprofessional in his wrinkled BDU uniform. I kept my uniform in tip-top shape, always starched and pressed. I kept my boots spit-shined. His boots looked like he hadn't polished them in months. I always took pride in my uniform and how I looked. To me, his unkemptness made him look unprofessional like a scruffy junk-yard dog.
To be honest, the EO sergeant major reminded me of the old Hollywood actor Lee Marvin who starred in The Dirty Dozen. In that movie, Lee Marvin played a troubled Army major. He had to train some of the Army's worst prisoners and turn them into commandos to be sent on a virtual suicide mission. I was glad I let this Lee-Marvin-looking thug know that I refused to be his or anybody else's prisoner.
The EO sergeant major harbored a kind of psychotic crazy drama. Often, his erratic behavior transformed him into either a nightmare or a horror movie. With a background in the Army transportation corps, I felt he was out of his element at the EO headquarters level.
THE V CORPS EO MAJOR
This white EO major never warmed up to me. Never! It could have been racism, fear, or some other asinine reason. I never figured it out or understood why. I chose to ignore this negative distraction.
To be honest, but without definitive proof, I believed that this major was jealous of me and felt threatened by my abilities as an intelligent, competent, outspoken Black woman and senior noncommissioned officer. I knew my job as an Army EOA inside and out. The EO major and EO sergeant major knew that I was an excellent writer and briefer. They both know that my abilities proved to be assets to the V Corps EO office.
Further into my tour, the V Corps EO major did something so underhanded and egregious, which validated my initial negative assessment of him as an officer of poor character.
THE V CORPS EO SERGEANT MAJOR
It surprised me that I would come to need the boisterous V Corps EO sergeant major as a necessary buffer between the V Corps EO major and me. After bumping heads with the EO sergeant major when I first met him, I knew to handle him as I would a spoiled brat. Yet, I kept my professionalism, which seemed to set the example for him about the expected behavior for a noncommissioned officer. I used this to calm him down.
THE V CORPS EO OFFICE SET UP
The V Corps EO office, located on the second floor of Building 5 on Campbell Barracks, consisted of the EO sergeant major, the major, and me. My cubicle was located right by the door. The V Corps EO sergeant major sat in a cubicle next to mine. The V Corps EO major had a desk by the window on the opposite side of the room. I sorely missed the Army's mainstay of camaraderie and cohesiveness.
THE V CORPS EO STAFF MAKE UP
At first, I thought the racial makeup of the V Corps EO office would be an ideal team. I felt that two white men and a Black woman would surely make a positive impact on many command levels. Reality crept in as my pie-in-the-sky assessment fell short. Yes, the V Corps EO office was diverse yet highly dysfunctional. I expected at least teamwork but got little to none.
For some reason, the V Corps EO major avoided contact with me. Silly as it sounds, whenever the EO major needed to get information to me or ask me a question, he would route that information by email to the EO sergeant major, who passed it to me. If the EO sergeant major was out of the office, the EO major would send me an email for information.
From time to time, I had to remind myself of the Army's EO Program principles. I was determined to:
Ensure equal opportunity and fair treatment for all soldiers without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation. Support an environment free of unlawful discrimination and offensive behavior. Ensure fair treatment based on merit, fitness, capability, and potential.
Discrimination, in any form, will not be tolerated. Commanders are ultimately responsible for sustaining a positive EO climate within their units.
Ludicrous as it sounds, I could not believe that I would be working in an EO Office in a major Army headquarters, which seemed to be operating under a false flag of fairness and equal treatment.
AT TIMES, I WONDERED IF I WAS REROUTED TO AN EO OFFICE IN SOME BACKWOODS COUNTY OF MISSISSIPPI
I had been on board for a few months and quickly settled into my EO job, which I loved. Immediately, my work schedule picked up as I visited units all over Germany, coordinated ethnic observances with other EOAs, and conducted several SAVs (Staff Assistance Visits). I think the sergeant major kept me on the road as much as possible to get me out of the office to keep me away from the major.
I enjoyed traveling all over Germany to conduct Staff Assistance Visits (SAVs) for units. During the SAVs, I briefed unit commanders. I talked to military personnel about the Army EO Program, what it entailed, and how the process worked.
Investigating EO complaints and interviewing soldiers and commanders about EO cases played a large part in my EOA responsibilities. With my background in military intelligence, I looked forward to processing EO appeal cases from subordinate units. Using my expertise, I deftly assisted commanders in resolving EO and leadership issues.
Investigating EO complaints and interviewing soldiers and commanders about EO cases played a large part in my EOA responsibilities. With my background in military intelligence, I looked forward to processing EO appeal cases from subordinate units. Using my expertise, I deftly assisted commanders in resolving EO and leadership issues.
In talking with soldiers and other noncommissioned officers, I was shocked to discover the amount of racism and discrimination some military personnel endured. I wondered how they could function in combat with underlying currents of unfairness and mistreatment in their home station.
I also conducted EO training in V Corps Headquarters every Thursday, our training day. I became innovative and avoided boring EO classes where the instructor talked, and the soldiers listened. I believed that involving soldiers in my training would emphasize my message and hit home with the soldiers. It worked.
Often when soldiers saw me in the hallway of the headquarters building, they would ask me if I would be doing EO training on Thursday. I was delighted that the soldiers looked forward to my classes as much as I did. That was when I knew I was doing something right.
PART 2
THE USAREUR EO OFFICE, OUR HIGHER HEADQUARTERS
The USAREUR Headquarters EO Office, also located on Campbell Barracks, was our higher headquarters. Major General Maude, a white male, led that office. Many officers and enlisted personnel admired and respected Major General Maude (*). His Executive Officer (XO), a white male, was a well-respected, full-bird colonel.
Their senior staff consisted of a white male sergeant major and a Black male major. I got along with the USAREUR EO sergeant major.
The Black USAREUR EO major was a first-class moron and good buddies with the white major in my office. Rounding out the USAREUR EO office staff was a Black male master sergeant, extremely intelligent and professional. He was my best friend and partner in crime. A biracial male administrative assistant, also a good friend, kept the USAREUR EO office in tip-top shape.
(*) Sadly, Major General Maude was killed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
THE BLACK USAREUR EO MAJOR
I don't even know where to start with him. I pegged him as an idiot when I first met him. He had a goofy grin on his smug face every time he visited the major in our office. He had bucked teeth with a big gap, wore thick glasses, and his uniform was always too tight, which emphasized his beer-belly gut. I doubted that he had taken and passed a recent PT test or could even do a two-mile run, but that was not my concern. Whenever he visited the V Corps EO major, they behaved like two immature frat boys instead of officers in the United States Army. I ignored both of them and just shook my head in disgust as they huddled by the major's desk, joking, laughing, and snickering like two immature frat boys.
BUMPING HEADS WITH THE BLACK MALE USAREUR EO MAJOR
I remember the first time the Black USAREUR EO major pissed me off. As an EO Advisor, one of my responsibilities was to create posters for all ethnic observances and post them in the headquarters building. I also shared my posters with EO Representatives in subordinate units and with my EOA colleagues. I loved this creative part of my job.
At the end of February, I had made several posters for the Jewish American Heritage Ethnic Observance coming up in March. To get the posters printed, I emailed them to the soldiers in the G3 section, who enlarged and printed them out for me. After picking them up, I brought them back to our headquarters and hung them in the hallways on different floors in our building for the entire month of the observance. I made it a point to be very thorough and meticulous about any information I produced and published for the V Corps EO Office.
One day at the beginning of March, the Black USAREUR EO major came to our office. He surprised me by stopping at my cubicle to speak with me, which is something he never did. Looking pompous, he tried to call me out for a "mistake" he thought I made on my Jewish American Heritage poster.
I waited patiently until he finished his "ah-ha, gotcha" moment. Then I pounced. I asked him to walk with me to the poster in the hallway. I couldn't wait to educate him right there on the spot. After explaining my poster in detail, to include the "mistake" he thought I made, he looked embarrassed, like the loser he was. Clearly, he had not done his homework like I always did. Severely armed with wrong information, he had made a big fool of himself. Unfortunately, it would not be the first time.
Sarcastically, I asked him if he had any further questions or comments. He never answered me. He just turned around and walked away. If it were possible for a Black man to turn red from embarrassment, then that is how I would describe how he looked.
I returned to my cubicle and saw that he had sat his fat ass down at the EO major's desk. They both looked up at me as I entered, then quickly turned away. I could hear them murmuring like two schoolgirls on a playground. Idiots! But I had no further "corrections" from that Black EO major since that one incident.
THE EO CONFERENCE AT DEOMI AT PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA
After a few months as an EO Advisor, I had my routine down pat and had settled into my job, which I loved. Also, I was happy that the V Corps EO sergeant major and I finally started to get along professionally.
Almost immediately, my work schedule picked up. The V Corps EO sergeant major tapped me to go TDY (Temporary Duty) visit all over Germany. I coordinated ethnic observances with other EO Advisors and conducted several SAVs (Staff Assistance Visits). I think the V Corps EO sergeant major kept me on the road to get me out of the office as much as possible to keep me away from the major. It was apparent to me that my mere presence in the office unnerved the major. I never had him on my radar screen, though.
One glorious day, the V Corps EO sergeant-major told me of a week-long EO conference at the Defense EO Management Institute (DEOMI) at Cocoa Beach, Florida. Well, yeah! The sergeant major asked me if I wanted to go. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to network and meet other NCOs from all over the world. I would get the latest updates on the Army's EO policies. I looked forward to the lectures and mixing and mingling with other Army EO Advisors and EO Advisors from other military branches.
I heard through the grapevine that the Black USAREUR EO major would attend the same conference. He and I were not on par professionally, so I knew I would avoid him at all costs. As the saying goes, "Forewarned is forearmed."
The V Corps EO sergeant major knew I had years of experience in military intelligence and was used to writing reports. So he knew he would get a thorough narrative about the EO conference from me.
I was ecstatic to get back to DEOMI, the school where it all started for my new career path as an Army EO Advisor. I met up with some of my old friends and made new ones. The conference was well organized, and the lectures were informative. I took notes in shorthand, a skill I never lost, to capture the bulk of the information.
I wasn't surprised that I never saw the Black USAREUR EO major at any of the conference lectures. To give him the benefit of the doubt, I thought maybe he sat on the other side of the auditorium out of my view. I didn't worry about it, though.
So with the conference over, I flew back to Germany and reported for duty that Monday. After briefing the V Corps EO sergeant major on some of the key points, I went to my desk, took out my notepad, and typed my report. Then, I submitted my report to the sergeant major. After reading it, he told me it looked great and that he would submit it through our EO channels.
The V Corps EO sergeant-major sent my report to the EO major. From there, the EO major was supposed to forward my report to the V Corps G1. From the G1, my report would go to the USAREUR EO Office. But little did I know that my information took a shifty detour after leaving the V Corps EO major's desk.
My friend, the Administrative Assistant in the USAREUR EO Office, called me two days after the V Corps EO sergeant major submitted my report. He told me that the Black major in his office had copied my report word for word, put his signature block on it, and submitted it as his own to the USAREUR Executive Officer, his boss! I was beyond livid.
My friend said he would help me out. He said he would print out a copy of the report that the Black USAREUR EO major plagiarized and submitted as his own. My friend met me at lunchtime and gave me a copy of "my report." I was steaming when I saw the Black major's signature block at the bottom of the second page.
This idiot major didn't have enough sense to rephrase or paraphrase what I wrote in my report. Instead, he copied every single word in every paragraph that I had written. FUCKING IDIOT! Too stupid to know how to cheat!
I wanted to address this plagiarism of my report through the chain of command. It was a serious matter which I could not and would not ignore. An officer in a trusted position had stolen my report and submitted it as his own. I could not let this be swept under the rug.
I went back to my office, angry at what had happened. I spoke with the V Corps EO sergeant major about it. He looked pissed but was not surprised at my intended action. He shared with me some crucial information. He told me that the V Corps EO major (supervisor to both of us) had emailed my report to the Black major in the USAREUR EO Office. The EO sergeant major also told me that the V Corps EO major said that my report was excellent. But the EO major never spoke to me about it.
As more information filtered down to me from my admin friend in the USAREUR EO Office, I found out that the Black USAREUR EO major had been bragging about spending his time on the beach instead of attending the lectures. What a moron!
Ready to take action, I told the V Corps EO sergeant major that I wanted to address this through the G1 chain of command. He told me it was my right to do so but told me not to expect anything to be done about it.
As fate would have it, I left to go to lunch with a copy of my report and the report that the Black USAREUR EO major had plagiarized in my Army bag. As I walked to the cafeteria, I was stunned to see the USAREUR EO Executive Officer colonel walking toward me. After saluting him, I asked if I could speak with him about a serious issue. He was all ears.
So I informed the USAREUR EO colonel that the Black USAREUR EO major and I attended the same DEOMI EO conference in Florida. I told him that I went to all the lectures and wrote my report, which I submitted through my G1, V Corps EO channels. I explained to him further that I got word that the Black USAREUR EO major copied my report word for word and submitted it to his chain of command as his own. I showed the USAREUR EO Executive Officer copies of both reports. He quickly scanned both pages. Within seconds, he turned beet red, which indicated that he was upset with that Black major.
He looked me in the eye and said, "Don't worry. Ã'll take care of this, SGT Metz." And that was that, or so I thought. I knew the USAREUR EO Executive Officer would do something to correct this, even if it were no more than giving that black major a counseling statement or a good military ass chewing.
The bottom line was that the USAREUR EO Executive Officer knew that the Black USAREUR EO major in his charge had lied to him by submitting my report as his own. He knew that he could not trust the Black major to function as an EO officer in the USAREUR EO Office in a major headquarters. This grave mistake killed his integrity as an officer.
After eating lunch, I went back to my office. I didn't tell the V Corps EO sergeant major that I spoke with the USAREUR Executive Officer. I knew he would find out soon enough because news like that would travel fast at the headquarters.
As for the V Corps EO major, he couldn't even look me in the face anytime he had to pass my cubicle to leave our office. Though he was in charge of our office, I had nothing more to say to that major. That major would not get a peep from me unless it was a five-alarm-fire or a Hindenburg disaster. I had lost the one iota of respect I had for him as an Army officer. I knew as a noncommissioned officer that I had to respect the officer's uniform, but I had absolutely no respect for the "little man" wearing it.
Within two days after my brief meeting with the USAREUR EO Executive Office, I received some good news. I heard that Major General Maude, the two-star general of the USAREUR EO office, had fired that Black major the same day I spoke to the USAREUR EO colonel. Justice was swift!
I heard that the Black major was reassigned to some outpost Kaserne in Giessen, Germany, north of Heidelberg, Germany. Giessen was a far cry from the picturesque town of Heidelberg and was not the best place to be in Germany. It was a small dismal post off the beaten path and quite a distance from bigger cities like Frankfurt, Mannheim, and Heidelberg.
With this swift transfer from a premier assignment to a shitty place like Giessen, that Black major would be in the dog house for the rest of his Army career. No doubt, his egregious mistake of lying to a full-bird colonel and a two-star general would reflect on his officer evaluation report. This serious strike meant that he would probably never get promoted. I felt sorry for his family, not him.
My enlisted friends and I were glad that the goofball major was gone. We all agreed that he contributed absolutely nothing to the Army's EO program at our level. So it did not pay for that Black officer to lie and try to steal my stuff. Everyone I knew wanted to celebrate his transfer, but no one was happier than me! That day, Karma became my best friend.