relations with non-federal entities - United States Department of ...

E. Other Support to NFEs:1. General Rule: Remember, the general rule is that DoD may not provideunauthorized support to, or endorsement of, NFEs. Fiscal limitations andprohibitions on preferential treatment and official endorsements generally prohibitproviding support to non-Federal entities. Subsection D. addresses specificstatutory and regulatory exceptions.2. Official purpose analysis. Ask, "Is this "logistical support" at all? Is the principalpurpose for the official attending to further the agency or organization's primarymission? Meaning, is the speech, presentation, or attendance primarily for thebenefit of the Government -- serving the Department's interests, or is it merely"support" -- by providing speakers -- that meet the less-essential, non-coremission community relations function?a. JER 3-211 is primarily a fiscally-based ("Purpose Doctrine") guidanceunderlying the ethics rule ("No misuse of resources"). It tries to define thatarea where resources may properly be provided to support NFEs based upongeneral community relations grounds. This is only relevant when there is nospecific interest or justification inherent to the providing organization'smission for providing the resource -- that interest could be "training" (forstadium flyovers or helicopter large animal rescues, "security" (for providinginteroperable equipment or training to civilian agencies), or "officialcommunications" (for speeches by officials who identify a need todisseminate DoD information and positions). These official activities do notneed to be tested against the 3-211 criteria because they are justified fromfiscal and use-of-resources perspectives without using the "last resort" of"furthering community relations."b. Compare the phrase in JER 3-211(a), "provide DoD employees in theirofficial capacities to express DoD policies as speakers" [subject to thelogistical support test], and the phrase in 3-211(c), "Speeches by DoDemployees at events sponsored by non Federal entities ... when the speechexpresses an official DoD position in a public forum" [not precluded]. Theyrefer to two different activities: (a) means performing a community relationsfunction by providing speakers -- only because the DoD organization wasasked by an NFE, while (c) means supporting the DoD mission by speakingbecause our officials found that there is a bona fide need to reach theanticipated audience.c. This subsection addresses circumstances when support to NFEs may beauthorized because it supports DoD interests in public affairs and communityrelations under JER 3-211(a). Before support may be provided, it mustcomply with DoDD 5410.18, DoDI 5410.19, Military Department publicaffairs and community relations regulations.23Relations with Non-Federal Entities10th Ethics Counselor's Course