United States Coast Guard fraternization policies are contained in chapter 8 of the Coast Guard Personnel Manual, COMDTINST 1000.6A.
General. The Coast Guard attracts and retains highly qualified people with commonly shared values of honor, respect and devotion to duty. These values anchor our cultural and Service norms and serve as a common foundation for our interpersonal relationships within the Coast Guard.
We interact, communicate and work together as teams to accomplish our missions. Indeed, mission success depends on cultivating positive, professional relationships among our personnel. An environment of mutual respect and trust inspires teamwork, assures equal treatment, and grants Service members the opportunity to excel.
Professional interpersonal relationships always acknowledge military rank and reinforce respect for authority. Good leaders understand the privilege of holding rank requires exercising impartiality and objectivity. Interpersonal relationships which raise even a perception of unfairness undermine good leadership and military discipline.
The Coast Guard has relied on custom and tradition to establish boundaries of appropriate behavior in interpersonal relationships. Proper social interaction is encouraged to enhance unit morale and esprit de corps. Proper behavior between seniors and juniors, particularly between officers and enlisted personnel, enhances teamwork and strengthens respect for authority.
By long standing custom and tradition, commissioned officers, including warrant officers, have leadership responsibilities extending across the Service. Likewise, chief petty officers (E-7 to E-9) have a distinct leadership role, particularly within their assigned command. Both provide leadership not just within the direct chain of command, but for a broader spectrum of the Service. Due to these broad leadership responsibilities, relationships involving officers or chief petty officers merit close attention.
Policy. Coast Guard policy is to sustain a professional work environment which fosters mutual respect among all personnel, and in which decisions affecting personnel, in appearance and actuality, are based on sound leadership principles. Commanding Officers, officers- in-charge, and supervisors are expected to provide an environment which enhances positive interaction among all personnel through education, human relations training, and adherence to core values.
Coast Guard policy on interpersonal relationships has been crafted to be as gender-neutral as possible. However, this approach may obscure one important issue: the fundamental principle that interpersonal activities which are appropriate among men or among women are likewise appropriate among men and women. Positive social interaction among men has proved beneficial to the individuals and the organization in the past, and women should be afforded equal opportunity to participate in these activities. Women must not be insulated or isolated from proper professional and social activities if the Coast Guard is to benefit from the full measure of their contributions.
As people work together, different types of relationships arise. Professional relationships sometimes develop into personal relationships. Service custom recognizes that personal relationships, regardless of gender, are acceptable provided they do not, either in actuality or in appearance:
(1) jeopardize the members' impartiality,
(2) undermine the respect for authority inherent in a member's rank or position,
(3) result in members improperly using the relationship for personal gain or favor, or
(4) violate a punitive article of the UCMJ.
