Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 10/20/2009

Question
Am I required to report an arrest made by civilian authorities to my Air Force Chain of command?  If so, what regulation covers this subject?

Answer
Paul,
Hopefully it was for something minor.

Yes, you are supposed to report it to your immediate supervisor.  If you do, usually nothing will come of it.  If you don't and your commander finds about it later, you'll be in big trouble.
I don't remember the AFI number right off hand, but it says you only have to report it to your supervisor.  Sometimes if your supervisor is a SSgt he won't know what to do except say shame on you.  That way later if your 1st Sergeant approaches you about it you can always say, "I told my supervisor."  Young supervisors usually don't know what to do about it because they haven't run into it before.

The downtown police usually have a good working relationship with the base Security Forces and every day they report their "Police Blotter" to each other.  So your name will appear on the downtown police blotter that is reviewed every morning by the Security Forces desk Sergeant.  He in turn, will brief his Security Forces commander on any military members that got picked up downtown.  The SF commander will in turn brief his boss, the Support Group Commander (Colonel) or the Wing Commander (Brig Gen).  So they will eventually find out about it.

It'll be easier on you to face your supervisor in advance, than to receive a notice to report to the Support Group commander's office in full Service dress uniform someday.

So go ahead and tell your immediate supervisor now, and try to downplay the incident as no big deal.  The police blotter contains a brief overview of the incident and not every little detail so the SF commander won't know everything about it unless it was serious enough for him to request a copy of the arresting officer's report.  So work on your story now.

Good luck,
Colonel H