Texas Wing - Civil Air Patrol
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Cadet Editorial - Living Core Values, 12 August 2010
TYLER, Texas – Where have our core values gone to? When did they become just words in our mouth? Where did we lose sight of our mission? How can we claim to be something that we are not?
Why are our core values just something to be said, rather than acted upon? It is our responsibility to live them, not just preach them. Our organization and program are nothing without our core values. Yet, with every activity I attend, I witness more and more cadets, young teenagers, disrespecting seniors, peers, and subordinates. Integrity is nearly impossible to find. Excellence is just something that is thought about, usually applied to someone else. Volunteer service is no longer about helping others, but instead we focus on what kind of personal recognition we can achieve. There is a fine line between preaching the core values and holding ourselves – and each other – to their standards. We cannot simply stand and beat someone over the head with Integrity, Respect, Volunteer Service, and Excellence. We need to do more than that. To show others what we mean, it is our responsibility to live them, not preach them. When we live them, others will see the example we are setting and strive to do what is right themselves. We must lead by example.
I see these actions and I am ashamed, disgusted. Am I watching the downfall of my cadet generation? Core values are being disregarded and ours is slowly becoming an individually-focused effort. CAP is not about us, it is not about what we do for ourselves, it is simply about what we do for others. It is about us passing on our knowledge and mentoring those younger than we, who have less understanding. Our goal should be to provide them with the wisdom to succeed, not the experience. Wisdom is knowledge through understanding, whereas experience is knowledge through trial and error, through mistakes and corrections. This is our duty regardless of age, regardless of grade, regardless of color, regardless of religion, regardless of personality, and regardless of natural talents and gifts. Our mission must focus on bettering new cadets, so that they may go above and beyond, and surpass anything we have ever done ourselves.
We wear our uniform to represent what we stand for, not what we pretend to be. For those of us who have not experienced a firefight, or worn honorably a uniform of the United States Military, have no right to preach about the thousands who have died wearing that uniform. It is not our place to speak it, or discuss it as if we could begin to fathom the pain and heartache that many of our veterans still live with. We have no idea what it feels like for those who have watched brothers and sisters die in the heat of battle. I have come to realize this, even when I say, “Wear your uniform properly, to honor all the men and women who have sacrificed and died for it.” It is not my place to say that. Only those who have experienced that loss can truly know what it is like.
We pay our respects to POWs and MIAs, yet we don't know what it is really like for our veterans to be reminded of the brothers and sisters they were forced to leave behind. We can never repay them, and we can't ever understand what they feel because we have not experienced it firsthand. Our veterans are a perfect example of the core values; their generation rooted itself in respect, excellence, integrity, and volunteer service.
“Core values make the military what it is; without them, we cannot succeed. They are the values that instill confidence, earn lasting respect, and create willing followers. They are the values that anchor resolve in the most difficult situations. They are the values that buttress mental and physical courage when we enter combat. In essence, they are the three pillars of professionalism that provide the foundation for military leadership at every level.” – Former Secretary of the Air Force, Sheila Widnall.
It is disgraceful when I see Civil Air Patrol’s values dishonored. These are my values, values that I live by day in and day out. I am mortified when I witness them stomped upon, trampled, and disrespected to the utmost degree.
As I sit here typing, I can feel my adrenaline surging, anger building up inside of me. Having to put up with such disgusting behavior is nearly impossible for my mind to grasp. I hold the core values dear to my heart, they are a standard that I live by, and I have dedicated and pledged myself to instilling them within CAP cadets. The heart of our program lies in our cadets, even though we are skilled in Emergency Services and Aerospace Education, we are honor-bound to mentor and improve the younger generation. They are not just the leaders of tomorrow, they are not just our future, they are the future of our country itself, and they are the future of everything that the United States of America has ever stood for. They represent everything that our forefathers fought for, and it is our duty, our responsibility, our mission to teach them, and help them understand that.
I am grateful to my mentors, my seniors, who have helped me become who I am. I would not have accomplished the level of success I have achieved had it not been for them teaching me, helping me up when I stumbled, and showing me how to live by the core values. Our core values are our uniform within, they are our character.
Serving on staff at cadet activities is not about having fun, it is not about doing what we want to do, and it is not about our personal success. A staff member's sole responsibility is to the cadet basics, whether they are serving on support staff or directly on the line. When we accept that staff position we are promising our cadet basics that we will give 110% of ourselves all the time. They look to us for guidance, they look up to us, and we are their idols. We must live up to these expectations.
To truly understand the core values and be passionate about them, we have to be able to relate them to everything that we do. We have to practice them in everything, day in and day out. Because, without that foundation they are just empty words in our mouth, they are just something we memorize and say, to no purpose. The core values must become something more than that. For us to lead by example they must become an instinct and a way of life. Our core values should be our first reaction in every situation, if we do that, then we are sure to succeed. Although some situations might seem to render us helpless because of circumstances beyond our control, if we react as the core values guide us to, we are sure to have done everything within our power to succeed. Excellence is not perfection; it is simply doing the best we can with what we have, and doing it within the core values.
I write this from my heart, from my experience, from what I have learned, from what I have been taught, and from what I have discovered to be true. At some point, our true character always reveals itself; it is up to us whether we will ground ourselves in the truth and the core values, or choose to do otherwise. If we ground ourselves within what we know to be true, no one can ever bring us down, as we gain strength through knowledge, knowledge through understanding, and understanding through service. We must practice it, believe it, and exercise it. If we do that, then we will live by it, no matter what scenario or situation might face us.
In our cadet life, our motivation must be oriented towards our cadet basics; empowering them to succeed must be why we do what we do. And if we live the core values, then it will become reality. It will be all about them, and it will be an experience worth remembering for all eternity. We must accept upon our shoulders the burden of passing our knowledge on, ensuring that our cadets surpass anything we have ever done. Knowing that it will take dedication, hard work, integrity, and servant leadership, for it is “difficult indoctrination that makes one elite.” We must provide that difficult indoctrination, as in this world only the elite will lead, because “the elite are those that will do what no one else will do.”
The core values must be a lifestyle; they must be a firm decision, even a standard. We must be willing to live by them and hold ourselves to that standard, no matter what the outcome. Within that firm decision there must be resolve, resolve to uphold them at all times, and a resolve that influences our uniform within, so that it matches our outward appearance. The Air Force says that, “To have integrity also is to respect oneself as a professional and a human being. A person of integrity does not behave in ways that would bring discredit upon himself or the organization to which he belongs.” That is what we must understand. We must live integrity because at all times we represent what we stand for, what CAP stands for, what America stands for, and what our fellow man stands for. “A person of integrity grasps and is sobered by the awesome task of defending the Constitution of the United States of America.”
Therefore I challenge you, look at the core values as more than just words… instead, take them to heart. It is not practice that makes perfect; it is perfect practice that makes perfect permanent. For us, perfect practice is to uphold our values out of uniform, as well as in uniform. By doing this we are preparing ourselves for the trying moment in our life when everything will hang in the balance; a time when to survive we will be forced to make our choices based on the core values. If we cannot learn to live the core values, then it won’t do any good to educate our people in them. To do so effectively, we must accept them as more than a guide.
“The Little Blue Book,” a 1997 United States Air Force publication, says, “The Core Values are much more than minimum standards. They remind us of what it takes to get the mission done. They inspire us to do our very best at all times, they are the common bond among all comrades in arms, and they are the glue that unifies the force and ties us to the great warriors and public servants of the past.”
Cadet 1st Lt. Jesse Carr, CAP