CS 08.3 - Changing of the Guard

Montgomery has historically been a place of change. On December 1, 1955 Mrs. Rosa Parks was on her way home from work and decided to do nothing. That is, she decided to remain seated toward the front of the bus. Mrs. Parks said, “If you want to be respected for your actions, then your behavior must be above reproach. If our lives demonstrate that we are peaceful, humble, and trusted, this is recognized by others.”

Above is a picture of most of my flight that ran the Assault Course on Tuesday. Thursday we experienced a Change of Command ceremony in which the staff here at OTS gave us the charge of the class (COT Class 08-04). We were also upgraded to third class status which means that over the weekend we are given Base Privileges (allowed to travel anywhere on outside the OTS Campus but still on Maxwell AFB). Today we had a Hall Call in which our Squadron handed out awards for the highest Athletic, Academic and Overall best flight of the week. My flight, KILO Flight, won two of the three—Academic and overall best average scores. Over the weekend we’ll be spending a lot of time studying for our second major academic test. A lot has changed in the past week.

So what’s the connection to Rosa Parks? Simply this, I am an officer in the world’s greatest Air Force! As such, among my duties is to uphold the core values of the USAF. The first core value of the Air Force is “Integrity First.” The AFOATS manual on character says that integrity first is “an unfaltering devotion to honesty, truthfulness, doing one’s duty, and doing what’s right.” As Kilo has been working to hone our communication and leadership skills and work cooperatively toward the same end we have found success in living out integrity and simply doing what is right even when it’s not easy. We have been encouraging each other to rise to the next level and have plans to continue to succeed.

Personally, all of this ties into my faith as well as my service to country. One person can make a huge difference as part of a team working to make a greater impact. I’m incredibly proud to be a part of Kilo Flight. We are a strong, confident, and positive group of leaders who desire to win, strive for excellence and greater discipline. As part of this awesome team I must remember that I need to personally do my part of living out Integrity First.

This core value is not something that should be left to Airmen or even other military members—it should be embraced by all of us. Imagine what your family, community, church family, or team at work would be like if we all began to embrace Integrity First. Imagine if there were more Rosa Parks in the world. I have the pleasure of serving alongside some incredible men and women who just may very well become the next Rosa Parks. Some are commissioned to be Doctors, Nurses, PA’s, JAG and chaplains. I can’t wait to see where this journey will take each of them and what kind of impact they will have on our incredible country.

The question now is—how about you? Are you prepared for a changing of the guard? Are you willing to take responsibility and live a life that puts integrity first? Are you another Rosa Parks?