Core Values In The Air Force

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Being in the military I have came across a number of different leadership/management styles and tried to adopt some of those that I thought were effective. The values that we hold in the military are expected to be at a higher standard then our civilian counterpart. This is something that I do not take for granted and try to live by our core values. The core values in the Air Force are what guide our organization and something that I have tried to represent my whole Air Force career. “In May 1995, then-Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall, and then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. Ronald Fogleman, established the Air Force Core Values: Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do.” If you as a manager can abide by these values while supervising your people, no matter how many that would be, then morally you can feel like you did your best as a manager.
Integrity first is the first core value that we in the Air Force live by. “People’s decisions to do what is ethical are greatly influenced by their surroundings, particularly by their organizational surroundings such as the “ethical climate” and the “ethical culture” of the organization” (Velasquez, 2012, p54) Getting trained the incorrect way is the most common mistake made in the Air Force for aircraft maintenance. If you were to question why we do things the wrong way the most common answer has always been “because that is how we have always done it”. This value is the most common one in my career field based on the fact that we work on multi million dollar aircraft and are expected to perform maintenance without anyone looking over our shoulder. A pilot will walk up to the aircraft walk around it quickly get in having full confidence in...

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... not allow this because eventually this would come back down on me if something bad were to happen. Fortunately we were able to correct the mistakes and everyone was forced to relearn a job they had been doing for year.
I think that though I have made several complaints about how the Air Force is ran in the maintenance field I do feel there is a good direction for where we are going as an organization. I know that the only thing I can control is my small area. I do manage a small group of people and hope to teach them the correct way so they are able to succeed. I continue to try and follow our core values because I think that if you follow these as an individual you can be successful. If you as a manager can abide by these values while supervising your people, no matter how many that would be, then morally you can feel like you did your best as a manager.

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