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Integrity: It can prevail through all

  • Published
  • By Capt. Curtis Hayes
  • 375th Dental Squadron
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Turn on any news channel or look on the internet and the biggest stories all have a common theme: Integrity. 

Bernie Madoff and his nefarious ponzi scheme took millions of dollars from the United States Air Force Academy Association of Graduates, among others. This money was supposed to go toward cadet activities, yet instead went to a plush New York townhome and lavish vacations. 

Alex Rodriguez compromised his integrity by taking steroids several years ago, and not admitting his error when he had the opportunity. While it was not specifically forbidden at the time, he knew that it was not the right thing to do. 

These lapses of integrity were not single acts. Small choices that are made on a daily basis can lead to a cumulative vulnerability, which in turn leads to larger poor choices. The slow degradation of your integrity is made in minute increments. 

We can all see within ourselves the struggle to make sure we are doing the right thing all the time. We need to be willing to identify and admit our weaknesses. This recognition allows us to embrace who we are and who we are not. Armed with this, we can guard against lapses of integrity. 

All of us are human and make mistakes, but how we recover from those mistakes can be just as important as not making the mistakes in the first place. We need to have compassion for those wingmen around us who fall and help them back on the road to success. 

Lapses of integrity always make it to the light of day. Hiding mistakes just makes the problems bigger. Bring issues up early and solutions can be found much easier. I encourage each of you reading this to examine yourself and strive to make improvements. You have a wonderful world of support around you with your Air Force family, and like your biological family, they really do want the best for you. Integrity lost is not gone forever, but does take work to restore. 

Our Air Force is built on the collective integrity from the newest airman basic to the chief of staff. We must guard our personal integrity and assist our wingmen in guarding theirs. Our collective effort is silent, but our lapses will be criticized by all.

"Strive for integrity--that means knowing your values in life and behaving in a way that is consistent with these values." -unknown