What is your most important value? Why?

2018-05-10T20:18:13-04:00

A situation gently reminded of my values earlier this week. I stopped in at AT&T to change my phone number and started chatting with the sales rep who attends a local college. The conversation was very pleasant. The young man said that he hoped to one day join the Army, but is not currently able because of civilian schooling obligations. I took the Army values card I received in basic training out of my pocket and showed him.

I found myself intently trying to listen to the young man tell me about how he arrived in the city. I empathized with his motivation and his unwavering commitment to serve.

Another situation reminded me again today about values. So, I figured I'd ask y'all about your values. I may have asked this question before. I cannot remember.

Response by TSgt David L. made May 10 at 2018 8:38 PM

2018-05-10T20:38:18-04:00

The AF Core values are:
Integrity First
Service before self
Excellence in all we do.

I've always prided myself on integrity. I didn't learn it from the military. I learned it from my parents. I'm human, but as a general rule I always try to do the right thing, whether someone else sees it or not.

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made May 10 at 2018 8:43 PM

2018-05-10T20:43:39-04:00

TSgt David L. , I agree with you. It can be the most difficult but it is the most important and without it, the other two don't mean much.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2018 8:43 PM

2018-05-10T20:43:53-04:00

Thanks for setting a good example. If he's committed, send him to a recruiter. He may be a candidate for OCS.

As for Values, especially army values, I believe there is a reason they are all enforced as they are all important.

Response by SGT Joseph Gunderson made May 10 at 2018 9:38 PM

2018-05-10T21:38:30-04:00

If we are talking about the those listed in the Army values acronym (LDRSHIP), I would have to go with Duty. As long as one holds true to their duty then everything else falls in behind it. It is one's duty to act in accordance with the UCMJ, the remainder of the military values, the civil laws, and everything else. Even conduct can fall under duty.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2018 9:57 PM

2018-05-10T21:57:25-04:00

Kind of like there are narratives and then there is the real truth, I have a set of concepts or ideals that I might advocate as being important, but I think that one's real values are reflected in their actions. Sometimes, these might not match up with narrative, so I hesitate to go with what I think are good values intellectually. At an interpersonal level, I experience stress about the prospect of letting somebody down who is depending on me. So, while _reliability_ is not on any list of values that I've seen, I think for me reliability is important. To be a reliable person is to be a useful contributor to the world around you. It doesn't have to be some dramatic, high-gravity, super important task or obligation with which you are reliable - small things count too.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 10 at 2018 10:10 PM

2018-05-10T22:10:31-04:00

I value the tenacity to reach your goals.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 11 at 2018 2:07 AM

2018-05-11T02:07:06-04:00

That's complex...however, I've generally observed that the most difficult character trait to emulate is to be admirable...I've met two Apollo astronauts, sat with my unit CO for an hour, a Vietnam war hero who'd flown 159 missions as an O-2 FAC pilot in Vietnam, an O-6 waiting to pin on O-7, spent a day with my base commander, another O-6, met and/or spoken with numerous high ups, and all of them, I'd found, exceptionally admirable, that:s why I pose that as the most difficult character value to try to emulate...those are my thoughts, for what teyre worth, hope they're of value....

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 11 at 2018 2:14 AM

2018-05-11T02:14:18-04:00

Plus, my wife's Da charged a minefield in WW2, her stepdad was in WW2 and Korea in Navy in the Pacific, sheeplls flying, bullets whizzing, kamikazes falling...plus, my uncle was one of Gen Eisenhower's radio operators, there when the Germans surrendered, Gen Eisenhower actually remembered him once, when he gave my uncle finished at Columbia Univ while Gen Eisenhower was president there before his election, he also helped send the Telex of the German surrender to Gen Marshall, we still have a flimsy copy he swiped as a souvenir, my cousins have it in a safe deposit box...my brother in law was KC-135 aircrew in SAC spring the Cold War, my Army ROTC faculty were Vietnam war heroes, before I went USAF OTS instead, a friend of ours was Ci130 aircrew in Vietnam fired at by North Vietnamese SAMs, and my next younger brother was USMMA Kings Point, our Dad was Navy enlisted aircraft mechanic deployed to the USS Block Island in the Caribbean sevl times in the 50s, and a guy in the Pentecostal church we go to was USMCR in Gulf One...I also merely list hem as addl examples, of course....

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 11 at 2018 2:15 AM

2018-05-11T02:15:11-04:00

Then, also, my Mom's first cousin was Army armor at the Fulda Gap in Germany in the 1950s, as well....

Response by SSG Jose M. Hernandezsanchez made May 11 at 2018 6:58 AM

2018-05-11T06:58:36-04:00

CPT (Anonymous)
To me always has been "Personal Courage". "Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral)". This has always been a thing for me ever since I joined back in 1992. I remember when I went to the recruiting station in Puerto Rico, and asked to be Airborne Infantry because that was the image I had about the Army. Well, I got convinced not to go Infantry, but I wanted the airborne option. It did really hit me until towards the end of my AIT, "wow, I'm about to go jump out of airplanes", what in the world I got myself into? For some it was just jumping out of an air craft, but for me is that moment of fear and nervousness, my heart wanted to come out of my chest every time. I had the same feelings every time I got myself in trouble. So, in my opinion, we have to face certain things or situations in life to know how far we can go as individuals. Those situations can or could change us to become the way we are now. I too were in school when I joined so, I think the military was on my path at the time I decided because once I made up my mind, it was on, I was going to join. Maybe the military is not in this gentleman's agenda at this time, he's more worry about school, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made May 11 at 2018 10:13 AM

2018-05-11T10:13:11-04:00

Integrity. You have to be able to truly believe a person you are dealing with. Once you loose it it is very hard to regain it.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made May 11 at 2018 10:34 AM

2018-05-11T10:34:43-04:00

This answer's going to sound "cheesy", but it's the honest one...Faith.

The older I get, the more I appreciate how every decision I've ever made involved my belief in God. No, I'm not talking about "religion"; though that's an exponent of faith...but the idea that I fundamentally, pragmatically, and sincerely "know" there's more out there than empty space, and at an eternal level-I have a place in it.

I probably wouldn't have discipline if I was only being measured by other humans. I likely wouldn't have integrity if the sole consequence for lying was getting caught. Without a doubt, I'd never have anything bordering on commitment or courage if I didn't believe that a divine being was both granting me the strength to endure...and the promise of a life to come if I fall.

I've known plenty of "atheists" with high morals and values...perhaps they found the judgments of others or themselves sufficient "reasons"...but for me, looking "up" has always helped more than looking "in".

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made May 11 at 2018 11:28 AM

2018-05-11T11:28:30-04:00

Be Honest. Be Polite. Be Professional.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made May 11 at 2018 12:31 PM

2018-05-11T12:31:36-04:00

Nice book responses. I'll add to the challenge. Consider what is the one thing that if you don't adhere to, things go into the dumper quick. I'll offer the one on myself. Humility. It does the most to keep the ego at bay. When the ego is at bay, you see things more clearly, stay more focused, are more honest, and your effort is for the mission and keeping others alive vs. yourself. I unfortunately had some slips during my career and had to work my way back to an even keel. Most politicians don't have it and you can see all the crapola that generates. Hard to have integrity if you're above all others. Easy to have integrity when you serve all others. Rank is a position. We serve at all ranks and should be ever more humble when you get the next promotion. That doesn't mean you can't be fierce. Humility lets you know when to flip on the bad ass switch. As with the concept of "force multiplier", I find humility is a "values multiplier".