Irreverent Warriors
Code of  Conduct

Purpose

The Irreverent Warriors Code of Conduct defines our organization’s requirements for its leaders and participants.  While IW promotes irreverence through freedom of expression, raw communication, and behavior unique to veterans, we still have a standard to maintain.  These expectations are established and maintained because our mission is our priority and our collective behavior directly contributes to the success or failure of that mission.

Scope

This policy pertains to the entire Irreverent Warriors organization, including leadership, participants, and volunteers.  Failure to adhere to this policy can result in expulsion from events, loss of title or responsibility, or restriction from leading, participating in, or volunteering for future IW events.

Community Presence

IW makes its most significant impact through personal engagement.  Local communities permit us to host our events and provide critical support to our mission and our veterans.  If our behavior violates their standards, we could easily ruin these relationships, lose their support, and do irreparable damage to our mission and the veteran outlook.

  • We are guests of the communities we operate in
  • We will conduct ourselves in a respectful manner at all times
  • We will respect local directives and officials
  • We will positively contribute to the community
  • We will be ambassadors for the IW mission and the Veteran community and make them feel good about us, our mission, and our presence

 

Law Enforcement

Irreverent Warriors staff, participants, volunteers, and affiliates are accountable to local, state, and federal laws in their entirety.  Many of these laws will be spelled out in greater detail later in this document for clarity’s sake.  IW coordinates with city officials during the planning phase of each event and directly involves Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) during execution whenever possible.  LEO involvement in our events contributes to the demonstration and appearance of legitimacy, greatly assists with logistical issues that may arise, and provides us with an additional level of safety and security.

Tolerance and Inclusivity

In order for IW to accomplish our mission effectively, we need to remain focused and eliminate distractions.  As a non-profit organization focused on improving mental health and preventing suicide in the veteran community, we strive to provide an environment of support and inclusion.  We will not accept communication or imagery of a religious, political, racial, contentious, crude, or inflammatory nature or anything that resembles hate speech or protest.  Imagery includes anything visible to other participants, including digital or paper material of any sort, clothing, patches, flags, banners, pins, etc.  Acceptable symbols, flags, and insignia include but are not limited to American or state flags, flags of foreign countries in whose military the bearer has served, branch flags, and patriotic flags such as “Come and Take It”, “Don’t Tread on Me”, Honor and Remember”, etc.  We will not let personal or ulterior agendas detract from the mission at hand or alienate our members from the community or each other.

Clothing and Decency

The traditional uniform seen at many IW events is an old school military style PT short we affectionately call “Silkies”, or “ranger panties”.  When worn properly, Silkies cover the buttocks and conceal the genitals and, when worn by a female, must be paired with a sports bra or swimsuit top (at a minimum) that covers the breasts.  Irreverent Warriors standards dictate that breasts, genitals, pubic areas, and buttocks must remain covered at all times.  Your apparel must not contain profanity, hate speech, lewd or vulgar imagery or symbolism, or any other visual cues that the public could view as offensive.  When selecting your outfit, be mindful of local standards, respectful of your fellow participants (and their significant others that may not be in attendance), and remember that we represent the veteran community to the public.  You can have fun, dress ridiculously, be patriotic as possible, and entertain your fellow veterans without being disrespectful or obscene.

Alcohol Consumption

Although alcohol may be present at IW’s events, we do not condone the over-consumption of alcohol by its leaders or participants.  Public consumption of alcohol outside of a licensed establishment or bringing outside alcohol into an establishment is illegal, not tolerated, and could jeopardize the businesses that support our events.  Alcohol-related crimes such as public intoxication, underage drinking, providing alcohol to minors or intoxicated persons, and drinking and driving are prohibited and will not be tolerated.  Drink responsibly.  Police yourself.  Police your buddies.  IW events are not bar crawls but rather mission-oriented social events that create an environment of camaraderie, irreverence, mutual support, and sense of belonging.  Be supportive of your brothers and sisters and help each other make healthy decisions; don’t assume everyone is drinking at our events as many of our veterans do not.

Drug Use

Irreverent Warriors staff, participants, volunteers, and affiliates are accountable to local, state, and federal law, and illegal drug use is no exception.  Anyone using or distributing drugs at an IW event is subject to dismissal from the event and may face criminal prosecution from law enforcement.  Should the event be conducted in a state where marijuana has been legalized, you have a medical marijuana license, or other such legal ability to partake, we ask that you step away from the event and its participants before use.  Many of our participants are active duty, possess clearances, are drug tested for work, or have strict standards or abilities when it comes to marijuana and/or recreational drugs.  In a spirit of camaraderie and support, we ask that you be both mindful and respectful of the needs of your fellow warriors.

Behavior

Irreverent Warriors is committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for ALL VETERANS.  We recognize that we are not all fighting the same mental battles, dealing with the same disabilities, healing from the same traumas, or recovering from the same addictions.  Any behavior that negatively impacts our veterans or undermines the support that our organization strives to provide to its members will not be tolerated.  These behaviors include but are not limited to using abusive, discriminatory, derogatory, or demeaning language, or intimidation, harassment, coercion, or bullying.  Or any behaviors not listed in this policy that may adversely impact the mission of Irreverent Warriors by compromising the safety and/or comfort of other IW participants or by negatively influencing the public opinion of Irreverent Warriors.  NO MEANS NO (Regardless of gender) – Unsolicited sexual conduct or advances will NOT be tolerated; sexual harassment or assault of any kind is illegal and will be met with appropriate consequences.

Our organization is a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities, and we will not tolerate harassment or discrimination for any reason.  This includes, but is not limited to members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, color, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.

Social Media

Irreverent Warriors relies heavily on social media to promote our mission, advertise our events, network our veterans, and maintain connection and support for our members.  The fact that we use irreverence, dark humor, and raw communication CONSTANTLY in our messaging and interactions means that we will need strong leadership and solid policies and standards in place to manage our organization’s image.  We need to present ourselves as a professional organization with a united front and ensure that we are providing the same environment of inclusion, support, and safety in our groups and pages that we do in person.  The standards that relate to things such as community presence, tolerance and inclusivity, clothing and decency, and behavior have their application on our Social Media platforms as well.  The following content is prohibited on all Irreverent Warriors social media:

  • Nudity or images that resemble depictions of a similar nature
  • Any fundraiser not affiliated with IW
  • Unaffiliated marketing or sales
  • Politics/Political material
  • Negative posts or harassment of any kind
  • Slander of other organizations (to include the VA)

 

Consequences of Unacceptable Behavior

Should these standards be violated, Irreverent Warriors will respond as dictated by the organization’s Incident Response Policy.