An MQ-9 Reaper sits on the flight line at Hurlburt Field, Fla., May 3, 2014.The MQ-9 Reaper is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft that is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets. (U.S. Air Force photo illustration/Staff Sgt. John Bainter)

Commentaries

What does 'service before self' mean to you?

  • Published
  • By Maj. Jason Haynes
  • 919th Maintenance Operations Flight commander
DUKE FIELD, Fla. --  Marking your underwear and learning the Air Force Core Values -- the two things I remember most clearly from my initiation into the Air Force.

My marked "whitey-tighties" are no longer with me. I retired them a long time ago. But the Air Force Core Values are as engrained in my memory bank as my date of birth or Social Security number. I find them easier to recite than what I had for breakfast.

Reciting them is not a challenge. Remembering what they are and living up to them is the ultimate challenge that is "the price of admission to the Air Force itself".

Before writing this, I took a quick survey of Air Force members to see how the values are interpreted in our "family". I found that "integrity first" and "excellence in all we do" are quite easy to understand with little variation in interpretation.

"Service before self," however, brought about a wide range of definitions ... from "contributing the 25 percent of the free time (one weekend a month) we have to the service of our country," to "working late until the job was done," to the ultimate extreme of "putting one's life on the line for the country." I quickly realized this particular core value has a little different meaning for everyone.

With this bit of knowledge, I decided to take a trip down memory lane to "The Little Blue Book." Unlike some of you that have probably saved your individually issued book as a keepsake, I had to fall back on the trusty Internet.

The first thing I looked at was the Air Force's overall philosophy for the core values. Two statements stood out for me: "The Core Values are much more than minimum standards," and "They inspire us to do our very best at all times."

There was a reason these statements hit home for me. The definition I have established in my mind for the Core Values is a "baseline" set of principles that all Air Force members should have. These two statements helped me realize that the values mean so much more than that. They are meant to inspire us as professionals.

Flipping over to the definition of "service before self," the book tells us that "professional duties take precedence over personal desires." Based on the survey I conducted, one might conclude that the Core Value "service before self" is applied by Air Force members in shades of grey, as we are all moved or inspired differently by this Core Value.

What should not be gray to anyone is the inspiration to serve. There is nothing wrong with personal desires. They make our all-volunteer service what it is.

But if you find that personal desires come before following the rules, respecting others, maintaining discipline and self control, or keeping faith in the system, then you are absolutely in the wrong profession.

On the flip side, if you are inspired to serve because of the satisfaction gained from doing something significant with your life, and sense the accomplishment gained from defending our nation and its democratic way of life, I believe you are well in tune with the essence of the core value "service before self."