CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Three straightforward values -- seems pretty simple. The second value is easy: Service before Self. We are a service organization. We serve our great country and its citizens by providing a military option in the overall diplomatic toolbox of our elected officials. This second value reiterates that we will serve our country before we serve ourselves.
The excellence value is pretty easy to comprehend, also. We fly planes, deliver cargo, assemble and disassemble complex machinery, secure fences and borders, provide protection in hostile environments and the list goes on and on. In each example, excellence is not just desired or expected, it is compulsory.
Our mission is too important and the outcome is too great for any of us to perform or provide anything less than excellence. So why have I chosen to write about our core values? Well, it is really the first value that interests me most ... the one I skipped: Integrity first. What is integrity? And why is it first?
Selfless devotion came in second to this thing called integrity ... that is pretty impressive placement. And I think we can all agree that being excellent in whatever we do is huge, yet the Air Force only awards excellence with a bronze medal in the core value olympics.
Integrity first. The core values read like job qualifications posted in the want ads with the message being: if you don't have integrity, don't bother. No shirt, no shoes, no service. Okay ... got it. Or do I? What is integrity? I understand its importance. In fact, I understand that it is the most important of our core values, but what does it mean?
Like ethics and morality, integrity is one of those "concept" words, a word that defines that which we all know, but that which is difficult to articulate or define. It is a concept each of us is readily aware of when we see it. And just as important, we immediately notice its absence.
Oftentimes, concrete words and definitions fail to accurately capture the essence of a word, especially when the word is seated in emotion and values. In these instances, it may help to look at the writings of others to piece together the meaning of such words and to better grasp the word's spirit.
To borrow a well-known phrase, integrity is operating in a selfless manner even when no one is looking. Integrity requires self-control and self-regulation. Integrity is making the right decision, following the just path and leading in a manner you would like to be led. It is about quality and purity of character. Integrity doesn't need to be defended, rationalized or justified; it is readily evident with all the inherent goodness baked right in.
And, while the umbrella of integrity includes how we deal with others, it is principally based on how we deal with ourselves. Are we dependable, reliable, fair, honest, truthful, resolute and incorruptible?
None of us are born with integrity, nor can we obtain integrity with a few well-placed words or actions. Integrity is the never-ending pursuit of honesty ... and that is why integrity is core value No. 1.
In the words of former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson, "If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity ... nothing else matters."