Our first core value in the USAF is Integrity First...Integrity is a character trait. It is the willingness to do what is right even when no one is looking. It is the “moral compass”—the inner voice; the voice of self– control; the basis for the trust that is essential in today’s military. (United States Air Force Core Values, 1997) This is paramount, for what should be an obvious reason...trustworthiness. It's drilled into Airmen from Day 0 at Basic Training. If you can't be trusted to meet basic military standards such as shaving, keeping your hair trim, or staying fit, how can you be trusted to torque those bolts on the aircraft? While on the surface that seems like an extreme conclusion, it drives home the point that integrity really can be the difference between life and death. Take a shortcut and people could die. In the aviation industry, it's no different. On the low end of the risk matrix, an aircraft or a piece of support equipment stays broken or costs more than it should to repair. At the high end of the risk matrix is loss of life. Those that become involved in the field of aviation should always be aware of these risks and strive to mitigate them as much as possible, starting with integrity.
U.S. Air Force. (2012). Air Force Culture (AFI 1-1, pg 4). Retrieved from https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_cc/publication/afi1-1/afi1-1.pdf
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