As a leader, what is the single thing you can do while in uniform to help bridge the gap between the civilian and military realm?

First thing is when you are in the public view while i uniform is to conduct yourself as a professional Soldier, Sailor, Marine, Airman, or Coast Guardsman.  So many times I am in public in civilian attire and see service members acting a fool, disgracing our profession.  Cussing and carrying on.  The public see this and automatically assume the worst of us.  Be a good steward of the uniform, conduct yourselves as gentlemen and ladies , you are ALWAYS watched.  If you see servicemembers acting out in public, correct them.  Civilians take notice of us, thier children watch us especially because whether you like it or not, you ARE arole model.  This alone will do a world of wonder for the civilain population looking up to the uniformed services!

BLUF. Check your ego at the door. More often than naught civilian employees bring a wealth of knowledge to the table. They are there for a reason and that reason is because the majority (not all) are considered to be very good at their jobs. To often military members have drank their own Kool-Aid for so long that they think their's is the best and forget that there are other flavors in the world. The civilians have not been pigeon holed into one way of thinking and therefore can make valuable outside the box contributions to any command if they are allowed to do so.

Sir,
One of my soldiers has done a great job reaching out to his local community by coordinating with teachers at elementary schools where the students have written letters to soldiers overseas. As many schools that do this, I feel not enough of these young student feel like they get answers to the letters they write. It is nice that a "representative" of the armed forces stops by just to say "thank you" back.