CORE VALUES IN A QUALITY AIR FORCE

Published Airpower Journal - Summer 1994
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CORE VALUES
IN A QUALITY AIR FORCE THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

The Air Force Vision

Air Force People building the world's most respected air and space force . . . global power and reach for America.

The Air Force Mission

To defend the United States through control and exploitation of air and space.

The Air Force Core Values

Integrity, Competence, Tenacity, Patriotism, Service

"The basic philosophy of an organization has far more to do with its achievements than do technological or economic resources, organization structure, innovation and timing.¹ These words of Thomas Watson, Jr., of International Business Machines (IBM), bring into sharp focus the importance of certain recent events in Air Force history. In the last few months, senior leaders of the Air Force have clearly articulated, perhaps for the first time in its history,² three aspects of Air Force basic philosophy. These are the Air Force vision, mission, and core values.

When he introduced the Air Force mission, Gen Merrill A. McPeak, the chief of staff, called upon its leadership to work to foster a renewed sense of dedication to the institutional mission of the Air Force. In calling for a "new generation of missionaries [to] spread the word" about the Air Force mission and thus "bind us together," he also called for a "new focus" essential to the fulfilling of his call. He said, "We need first a new focus, a focus on enduring values that can guide us in a changing, more complex, often confusing world."³

Core values represent such enduring values. They are, of course, not the only enduring values. Some would argue that the list has significant omissions. The one most often pointed out to me is faith. Perhaps that is because I am a chaplain. Omissions aside, the list is a core list, not a comprehensive one. It is also not an exclusive list but rather one which, in my view, allows for inclusion of other enduring values as appropriate to situations and circumstances. This article offers definitions for the core values and makes a case for their importance in a quality Air Force. It then looks at the challenge that lies ahead of Air Force leadership in raising up a "new generation of missionaries" committed to the vision, mission, and values of the Air Force. Finally, it makes recommendations on how to most effectively ensure that the Air Force of the future is made up of "missionaries" faithful to the institution, its purpose, and its values.

Core Values

The core values have been described as the "bedrock beliefs and values of the Air Force."⁴ The adjective bedrock connotes permanence or immutableness. The core values represent, in the eyes of Air Force leadership, the essential and very nearly unarguable foundation for organizational success.⁵ They seem to be self-evident since, as one author has stated, "The absurdity of attempting to live an effective life [or run an effective military organization] based on their opposites"⁶ is fairly obvious. They also fall in line with what has been written in other authoritative documents on the subject, including Joint Publication 1, Joint Warfare of the US Armed Forces.⁷

The brief discussion of the core values that follows argues for their immutable nature and substantiates their place within the "mainstream of military thought."⁸ In this discussion, the terms soldier and airman are used interchangeably.

Integrity can rightly be called the "mother of all core values." It has been described as the "cornerstone for building trust,"⁹ the "glue that ties us all together,"¹⁰

and "the fundamental premise of service in a free society."¹¹ Integrity implies a oneness between words and action. People of integrity conform their words to their actions. They tell the truth. They also conform their actions to their words. They practice what they preach. They also keep commitments.¹² One of the essential commitments military personnel must keep is the one at the heart of the commissioning and enlistment oaths--to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. The oath is a promise to live by the rule of law¹³ and to support the foundational principles upon which the Constitution is based. These can be summarized as "freedom, quality, individualism, and democracy."¹⁴ Without integrity it is impossible to build the culture of trust so essential to effectiveness in military organizations.¹⁵ It is also essential to the trust that must exist between the military services and the free society they serve.¹⁶

It has been said that "the nature of the military profession, and the responsibilities of the profession to the society it serves, are such as to elevate professional competence to the level of an ethical imperative."¹⁷

Mistakes in combat, given the tremendous firepower involved, can easily lead to needless tragedy. Competence, like integrity, is essential to trust in military organizations and between the military and society.¹⁸ In the military, the guiding principle for competence can be found in the words of Abraham Lincoln: "I do the best I know how, the very best I can."¹⁹

Identified by Carl von Clausewitz as the "soldier's first requirement,"²⁰ courage is implicit in the concept of a good soldier. It is generally understood to have both physical and moral dimensions. Physical courage implies the willingness to put one's life on the line when circumstances require it. Moral courage involves a determination to make correct choices in the face of pressure to do otherwise.²¹

This concept includes the principle upheld at Nuremberg that a soldier is duty bound to disobey unlawful orders.²² Gen W. L. Creech, former commander of Tactical Air Command, said, "Courage is essential in interpersonal relationships. The courage to tell it like it is. The courage to admit you're wrong. The courage to change your mind. The courage to discipline subordinates who need it. The courage to stick to your principles."²³

Von Clausewitz captured the essence of tenacity with two words: staunchness and endurance. The first represents the ability to resist "a single blow." The second alludes to the capacity to maintain "prolonged resistance."²⁴ The duties of military personnel require the ability to stand fast in the face of adversity and to maintain that resolve over time.

Patriotism is "love of and devotion to one's country."²⁵ For the soldier this love and devotion provide the motivation to endure strict discipline and significant sacrifice.²⁶ An important dimension of patriotism for military personnel is the concept that the soldier's allegiance is to the country first, not to any particular political or military leaders. Again, the oath to support and defend the Constitution gives a significant depth of meaning to this allegiance.²⁷ The words of Arthur Schlesinger highlight another aspect of patriotism: "My idea of patriotism is to act so as to make one's country live up to its own highest standards."²⁸

Service is the giving of self for the welfare of others.²⁹ The United States Air Force is a military service. Inherent in the word service is the concept of servanthood. Those who serve in the military are public servants. They have been given stewardship over tremendous resources for the express purpose of providing "for the common defense."³⁰ Living up to that responsibility requires much more than a "this-is-only-a-job" attitude. As alluded to earlier, the term missionary describes the kind of attitude we are seeking. The ideal would be for every member of the Air Force to accept "service to country as a watchword and defense of the Constitution of the United States as their call."³¹

Core Values and the Quality Air Force

"Quality people are critical to high quality forces. History has taught us that the human dimension is vital to success on the battlefield."³² This statement by Donald B. Rice, former secretary of the Air Force, lays the foundation for why the living of core values is essential to a quality Air Force. The human dimension is vital. The aspect of that dimension critical to success in battle is character--the strength of one's continuing commitment to live professed values. The words of German general Guenther Blumentritt make that point well:

In a sense, the character of the institution of the Air Force rises and falls on the commitment of each individual member to live its core values.

Von Clausewitz, in his discussion of "military genius" in On War, argues powerfully for the importance of character. Commenting on the "fog" of war, he points to the uncertainty of "three quarters of the factors on which action in war is based." He then makes the case that the one way out of this "relentless struggle with the unforeseen" is the capacity to retain "some glimmerings of the inner light which leads to truth; and second, the courage to follow this faint light wherever it may lead." That is character. He then goes on to flesh out the concept of character by pointing out that it is the quality of sticking to one's convictions and keeping one's balance in the face of "exceptional stress and violent emotion." Character to von Clausewitz is not just having "powerful feelings" but resides in having an understanding of and faith in "the overriding truth of tested principles."³⁴

Real faith leads to action. Faith is not just professing belief. James, in the New Testament, said that "faith without works is dead."³⁵ Although he was speaking of a different level of faith, the principle applies in this context. Faith is manifest in our actions, in living what we say we believe. When people live out their faith in those tested principles that we call core values, the trust between all team members essential to effective mission accomplishment cannot help but be positively impacted.³⁶ It is important to point out that this truth applies not only to combat but to all aspects of the operation of the Air Force. A constant theme in the Air Force today is the notion that enduring quality will only flow out of an "institutional culture" characterized by trust. It logically follows that the promotion of continuous improvement in the character component of quality will lead to higher levels of trust and higher levels of quality. As the organization more closely aligns individual action and organizational strategy, structure, style, and systems around core values, more "latent creativity and energy" will be unleashed to create "benefits that go straight to the bottom line."³⁷

In a sense, core values represent fundamental doctrine about what works in combat.³⁸ In addition, they also represent what one author has referred to as "true north" principles.³⁹ They point to what works to bring about quality in organizations in a more general sense. The remainder of this article deals with how the Air Force can more effectively align its institutional culture with fundamental doctrine and its people with "true north" principles.

The Challenge to Air Force Leadership

Air Force leadership is committed to building a quality Air Force established on the foundation of core values. There is much evidence to indicate that many who will enter the Air Force in the coming decade will not have a strong commitment to core values. The results of a recent study indicate that two-thirds of America's citizens do not believe there is universal truth with regard to morality.⁴⁰

In fact, it has been argued that the only enduring value to a significant proportion of our society is self-interest.⁴¹

This lack of alignment between societal and core values presents a significant challenge to those who will lead the Air Force in taking up General McPeak's challenge to "raise up a new generation of missionaries."

A key to meeting the challenge lies in the concept of transformational leadership--leadership that can change hearts and minds and bring them into line with core values.⁴² Underlying it are two fundamental leadership commitments--a commitment to personal integrity and a commitment to foster organizational alignment with core values.⁴³

Transformational Leadership

Bruno Bettelheim once remarked, "If we hope to live not just from moment to moment, but in true consciousness of our existence, then our greatest need and most difficult achievement is to find meaning in our lives."⁴⁴

Transforming leadership builds on this basic human need. Transforming leaders put their efforts into proclaiming, exemplifying, and teaching the real meaning of the values of the organization. They are, in a sense, leader-missionaries for the organization. They are zealous to the point of tediousness. They take every opportunity, no matter how large or small the audience, to proclaim the organization's enduring values.⁴⁵

In their book In Search of Excellence, Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman quote Gregor Burns, who gives this definition of transforming leadership:

A clearer understanding of transformational leadership can be had by comparing it with transactional leadership, a much more common style. The following chart, adapted from Stephen Covey's book Principle Centered Leadership provides such a comparison.⁴⁷

Covey is quick to point out that some aspects of transactional leadership are necessary. However, without the parameters laid out by transformational leadership, there is no clear picture of ultimate goals and objectives. This lack of direction leads managers to "operate on social and political agendas and timetables."⁴⁸

Personal Integrity

The axiom "Actions speak louder than words" is one that few would dispute. Carrying that thought a step higher, we intuitively know that when actions and words are one and the same, the volume of that message drowns out either one by itself. Anyone can be a transformational leader if he or she is willing to pay the price. The price is a commitment to fight the daily battle to bring one's actions and words into alignment.⁴⁹ These words of Gen John A. Wickham, Jr., former Army chief of staff, capture the importance of such a commitment to organizational excellence:

I believe that a relationship exists among character, values, and leadership. . . . [T]he success of organizations largely depends on the quality of leadership in them, and the better the leadership, the better grounded it is on character and values. This is particularly true in military organizations.⁵⁰

The example of a great transformational leader like Mohandas K. Gandhi gives us a clear picture of the power of personal integrity. His influence and his ability to inspire the people of India, although he never held public office, was nearly absolute. This absolute power derived from his integrity--the unity of his words, actions, and values--and the relationship of trust that this created between him and the Indian people.⁵¹

It is important to reemphasize that integrity is more than telling the truth or keeping promises. It involves a fundamental commitment to live out one's values. When a leader is perceived as not "walking his talk," credibility goes out the window and cynicism is rampant. A short personal anecdote will serve to illustrate. As a member of a professional military education seminar, I read an article on leadership by a former Air Force senior officer. The article emphasized the importance of taking care of one's people and treating them with respect. In sharing the article with some associates who had worked for this senior officer, the clear message was, "This is not the way he treated us." The described result in that organization was cynicism, fear, and lack of trust.

The direct correlation between leadership integrity and organizational excellence requires a leadership commitment to core values. That commitment begins with a sense of personal vision.⁵² These words of former president Ronald Reagan capture the vital importance of vision: "To grasp and hold a vision, to fix it in your senses--that is the very essence, I believe, of successful leadership."⁵³ The central nature of vision is having a clear idea of what you are trying to do with your life, to include what kind of person you are trying to become. It means knowing what you really value. It is expressed in proactivity, the ability to mediate one's actions based on one's values as opposed to the emotions of the moment or outside influences.⁵⁴ For the Air Force leader, if there is to be congruence in his life, this vision must include a deep commitment to core values.

Fostering Organizational Alignment

A characteristic common to many great leaders is that they continuously emphasize organizational values and principles. They continuously model them.⁵⁵ They carry it an essential step further by creating an organizational environment that fosters adherence to those values.⁵⁶ The power of an institutional environment to influence individual behavior is well documented. That the application, or misapplication, of institutional policies can lead people to behavior that is contrary to stated institutional values is evidenced by two classic examples from the Vietnam War: the My Lai Massacre⁵⁷ and the case of Gen John D. Lavelle, in which bombing records were falsified.⁵⁸ The opposite is also true. An organizational environment can be created that encourages people to live core values. In fact, such an environment is essential to that process.⁵⁹ This is, of course, pretty much common sense. The challenge is to make it common practice. Making it common practice requires that leaders attend to their personal behaviors and to organizational practices. Looking first at personal behaviors, leaders transmit and instill values by what they focus on as important and seek to measure and control; how they respond to "critical incidents and organizational crises"; and what they deliberately role model, teach, and train others to do.⁶⁰ The trickle-down effect of these leadership behaviors can have a powerful effect on organizational commitment to core values and principles.

Turning to organizational practices, the focus is on how the Air Force should carry out socialization. Socialization is the process by which an organization teaches its value system to the new member and fosters a continuing commitment to those values.⁶¹ The ability to effectively socialize members of an organization is recognized as a key to organizational quality.⁶² Effective socialization with regard to core values includes:

Careful recruitment.
Every effort must be made to select candidates whose values most closely align with core values. Air Force values must be communicated clearly to prospective candidates. The candidate must understand that the Air Force is not for everyone. It requires a high level of commitment. The Air Force slogan "Aim High" emphasizes this idea.

Rigorous entry-level training.
The object is to humble the trainee. Anyone who has experienced this type of training understands that it causes one to do some serious soul-searching. Part of the process involves looking at one's behavior, beliefs, and values. The question then is, Do they fit? This process promotes openness to the acceptance of core values.

Faithful adherence to core values.
If the core values are to be a transcendent guide to behavior, that message must be conveyed early, strongly, and continuously. This is the most essential part of the socialization process. This is what establishes the sense of trust between the individual and the organization. Mixed messages must be scrupulously avoided. As a graduate of both basic training and officer training school, I have had personal experience with situations where, in order to accomplish a "higher goal," I was encouraged by supervisors to be deceptive or "bend" a regulation. Although these infractions were minor, they came at a formative time and had a powerful influence on my attitudes about what the real "rules of the game" were.⁶³ I do not believe my experiences were atypical.

Core values training.
Training in core values at all levels is essential, but the program must not become a forum for lecturing, moralizing, or preaching. It should be designed to teach the critical thinking skills needed to deal with hard issues and emphasize that proactivity based on core values is a must in the Air Force. It is best accomplished in an environment which encourages participant interaction and discussion leader involvement. It should focus on case studies that deal with real world issues for participants.⁶⁴

Reward results.
Leaders must scrupulously ensure that those whose duty performance exemplifies core values are rewarded.⁶⁵ This approach is a proven antidote to careerism and its emphasis on doing whatever is necessary to advance one's career.⁶⁶ Reward those who really are good rather than those who merely look good.

Reinforcing "war stories."
Stories of events and personalities in the history of the Air Force that exemplify core values validate their importance to the organization. They also serve to inspire those who hear them to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before.

Showcase role models.
Making others in the organization aware of the successes of those whose behavior, here and now, sets them apart as role models also serves to validate the importance of core values. It is "the most powerful ongoing `training program' available."⁶⁷

Meeting the Challenge

These words of William J. Bennett, former secretary of education, capture the importance of values, and core values, to our nation and more specifically to the United States Air Force. Core values are the bedrock foundation upon which a quality Air Force will be built. They focus on virtue, living according to a standard of right.⁶⁹ Yet, in my view, the Air Force, like our society, has been reluctant in the past to give values center stage. Perhaps like the rest of our society we were caught up in the dogma of ethical relativism to the point that we were afraid to too loudly proclaim any standard.⁷⁰ These words of Irving Kristol reflect his concern over the current state of affairs in our nation.

The time has come for the Air Force to speak up loud and clear about core values and the standard of virtue they represent. It begins with a leadership commitment. Commanders and supervisors at all levels must truly lead out in the way epitomized by the concept of the transformational leader. Doing this effectively will require that they come to grips with the meaning of the core values and how they can function as the "missionary-leader" in spreading the word and "changing the hearts" of those they lead. This will require more than cursory briefings on the subject. It should be a significant topic in orientation and ongoing training for leaders and supervisors. There should also be continuing emphasis on these concepts in appropriate professional military education.

Initial and ongoing training for every member of the Air Force is also indicated. This would send the message that core values are important and would also equip individual members with skills and strategies to deal with issues they will face. Every effort must be made to avoid "quick-fix" training, which only trivializes the subject matter. That approach is worse than no training at all.

In line with the principle that values are both "caught" and "taught,"⁷² a concerted effort must be made to ensure that institutional policies and practices at all levels fall in line with core values. This is especially important in training environments. There must be no mixed messages about what the standard of behavior is. Leaders must model core values and ensure that their organizational practices reflect them. Those who do not should not lead.

The importance of a coordinated approach emphasizing all three of the above recommendations cannot be understated. The synergistic effect of such an effort would far outweigh the sum total of these approaches used in isolation. In fact, the implementation of one or two recommendations alone would result in a mixed message that could be counterproductive.

Core values are "enduring values that can guide us in a changing, more complex, often confusing world."⁷³ As they are lived out with ever-increasing effectiveness in the lives of Air Force people, higher and higher levels of quality will be realized. They must be continually "shouted from the rooftops" by visionary leaders who have caught the spirit of what they mean to the Air Force. They must be exemplified in the lives and organizations of those leaders. Then we will be on the way to ensuring that the Air Force of the future is made up of "missionaries" faithful to the institution, its purposes, and values.

1. Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, In Search of Excellence (New York: Warner Books, 1982), 15.

2. Gen Merrill A. McPeak, USAF, "McPeak: No clear mission statement, until now," speech delivered at Maxwell AFB, Ala., 19 June 1992, printed in Air Force Times, 3 August 1992, 4.

4. "Air Force Leaders Introduce QAF Values, Principles," Wingspread, Randolph AFB, Tex., newspaper, 27 November 1992, 6.

5. Gen W. L. Creech, USAF, Retired, "Organizational and Leadership Principles for Senior Leaders," reprinted from AU-24, 1990, 143, in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, 3d ed., lesson 8, 105.

6. Stephen R. Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989), 35.

7. Col Dennis M. Drew, "Jointness: The Fundamental Problem: A Review of Joint Pub 1," Airpower Journal, Summer 1992, 61.

9. Joint Publication 1, Joint Warfare of the US Armed Forces (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 11 November 1991), 7.

10. Philip M. Flammer, "Conflicting Loyalties and the American Military Ethic," Malham M. Wakin, ed., in War, Morality, and the Military Profession, 2d ed. (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1986), 168.

11. Air Force Pamphlet (AFP) 35-49, Air Force Leadership, 1 September 1985, 4.

13. Anthony E. Hartle, Moral Issues in Military Decision Making (Lawrence, Kans.: University of Kansas Press, 1989), 13.

16. Lewis S. Sorley III, "Duty, Honor, Country: Practice and Precept," in Malham M. Wakin, ed., War, Morality, and the Military Profession, 2d ed. (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1986), 144.

17. Lewis S. Sorley III, "Competence as Ethical Imperative: Issues of Professionalism," in James Brown and Michael J. Collins, eds., Military Ethics and Professionalism: A Collection of Essays (Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press, 1981), 39.

20. Carl von Clausewitz, On War, ed. and trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1976), 101.

22. James H. Toner, "The `Citizen Soldier' Defender of the Republic," article reprinted with permission of the author in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, 3d ed., lesson 16, 179.

28. Quoted in Ron Javers, "Who's Patriotic?" Town and Country Monthly, July 1992, 45-51.

32. Donald B. Rice, "The Air Force and US National Security: Global Reach-Global Power," reprinted from Air Force White Paper, The Air Force and US National Security: Global Reach-Global Power, 1-15, in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, 3d ed., lesson 18, 360.

33. Lt Col Barry D. Watts, USAF, and Maj James O. Hale, USAF, "Doctrine: Mere Words, or a Key to War-Fighting Competence?" Air University Review 35, no. 6

(September-October 1984): 4-15, in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, lesson 14, 3d ed., 223.

37. Stephen R. Covey, Principle Centered Leadership (New York: Summit Books, 1991), 253-314.

40. Charles Colson, "Can We Be Good without God?" Imprimis 22, no. 4 (April 1993): 2.

41. Michael Josephson, "The IDIs are Coming!" Ethics: Easier Said Than Done, no. 10 (October 1990): 39.

50. Gen John A. Wickham, Jr., USA, Retired, "The Role of Values in Organizations," reprinted with permission from Signal, August 1988, 19-20, in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, 3d ed., lesson 7, 49.

53. Terry L. Diebel, "Reagan's Mixed Legacy," Foreign Policy 75 (Summer 1989): 34-55, reprinted in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, 3d ed., lesson 17, 268.

56. Gen Robert D. Russ, USAF, Retired, "Tenets of Leadership," reprinted from TIG Brief, no. 8 (September-October 1986): 2, in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, 3d ed., lesson 7, 8.

57. Malham M. Wakin, "Wanted: Moral Virtues in the Military," Hastings Center Report, October 1992, 25.

58. Maj Donald W. Hudson, Maj Gerald E. Hull, and Maj Robert L. Stevenson, "Integrity--The Pressures to Compromise," ACSC student report no. 83-1150 (Maxwell AFB, Ala.: Air Command and Staff College, March 1983), 1.

60. Edgar H. Schein, "How Leaders Embed and Transmit Culture," reprinted from Armed Forces Comptroller 31, no. 3 (Summer 1986): 6-12, in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, 3d ed., lesson 8, 132.

61. Dr William R. Farrell, "Oft Forgotten Leadership Fundamentals," reprinted with permission from the Naval War College Review 41 (Spring 1988): 57-65, in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, 3d ed., lesson 8, 127-28.

62. Richard Pascale, "The Paradox of `Corporate Culture': Reconciling Ourselves to Socialization," reprinted from the California Management Review 27, no. 2 (Winter 1985): 56-71, in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, 3d ed., lesson 8, 141.

68. Quoted by Sen Dan Coats in "America's Youth: A Crisis of Character," Imprimis 20, no. 29 (September 1991): 2.

70. Christina Hoff-Sommers, "Teaching the Virtues," Imprimis 20, no. 11 (November 1991): 1.

71. Irving Kristol, "Defining Our National Interest," The National Interest, no. 21 (Fall 1990): 16-25, reprinted in Air War College Associate Programs, vol. 1, lst ed., lesson 15, 37.

Chaplain, Lt Col, Alexander B. Roberts (BA, University of Arizona; MS Ed, Eastern Illinois University) is chief, Plans and Programs, Office of the Command Chaplain, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command (AETC), Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. In previous assignments he served as senior protestant chaplain at Hahn Air Base, Germany, and as assistant director, Chaplain Individual Reserve Programs, at the Air Reserve Personnel Center (ARPC), Denver, Colorado. He is a graduate of Air command and Staff College and Air War College.

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.