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NEWS | Nov. 17, 2020

Climate survey season is upon us

By Melinda Morris 628th Air Base Wing Equal Opportunity

JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Defense Equal Opportunity Climate Survey is just like a squadron, it’s the people and their input that make it valuable. The DEOCS is also similar to voting, it is your opportunity to make your voice count. For the statisticians out there – you know the more members respond, the more statistically significant the survey responses are, and the more beneficial the product is for the commander.

In 2013, Congress mandated climate surveys be conducted 120 days after assumption of command and annually thereafter. This change was due to the typical summer command permanent change of station season. If you have not already, you will likely see a request to participate and make your voice heard.

The DEOCS program changed in July 2020, rolling out a new survey and system; however, it still takes around 20 minutes to complete. There are two, still anonymous, ways to get notifications to participate in survey now – about 90% will use the system you are used to. Your commander will send out an email with a URL and passcode for the unit. The other method can be sent directly to the unit-provided email from a system-generated notification process. If you have internet access, you can complete the survey anywhere.

The survey is very important to your command team – leadership cares about their members and how the mission is getting accomplished – a healthy, striving human relations climate contributes to that goal. A DEOCS is a broad-brush approach to getting a snapshot in time of how unit members perceive their organizational effectiveness, leadership, equal opportunity and treatment, sexual assault response, and other focused areas. Comments will be in the report exactly as written; if you sign it or insert a name or specific event, it will be shared exactly that way.

The 628th Air Base Wing Equal Opportunity office is the survey administrator, key analyzer, and records keeper for units we serve. Thank you in advance for sharing your time and thoughts. Please contact us at (843) 963-3662 or via email at 628ABW.EO.EqualOpportunity@us.af.mil with any questions or concerns about this product.