Core Values

[Major Lord]

I understand your concern, but I view the Regulation as authoritative and  "Learn to Lead" as just another pamphlet, not binding or carrying any real imprimatur. I think you are right to point out the inconsistency, and you did a great job in doing so! If you are waiting for an official acknowledgment and apology from NHQ, I suggest not holding your breath. Heck, we have regulations that contradict each other, let alone expecting every teaching aid to be 100% accurate. The "core values" seem to be a rather new thing in CAP. Just breezing through my 1965 copy of "The Leadership Laboratory Manual" there is no mention of such a thing. This leads me to believe that CAP somehow managed to survive for quite some time without "Core Values". I guess in those days, regular old fashioned "values" must have been sufficient.


Major Lord

[jimmydeanno]

I only take issue with it if they are being used as a memorization item.  However, since I don't use them as a memorization item, it doesn't bother me.  Instead, I like my cadets to use those as guiding principles for their decision making.  Whether they are putting "Integrity" or "Integrity First" into their decision making process doesn't matter to me.

What really are core values?  Well, they're actually quite simple.  These values represent a cultural commitment within Civil Air Patrol: to practice basic honesty, to give of one's self for the betterment of humanity, to deliver top quality services, and to treat others fairly.  In summary, core values require all CAP members to exemplify the highest standards of personal and professional conduct. As former Air Force Chief of Staff General Ronald Fogleman said, "core values must guide our daily actions --- 'even when no one else is watching.'"

I think that making them a memorization item only pays lip service to the goal that they are trying to accomplish.

[SamFranklin]

So no one sees any issue with inconsistency of our Core Values, and how they are taught to cadets?
... I did kinda think that someone might at least agree someone should alert the NHQ CP staff of this.

I agree that the Core Values should be presented in a consistent manner. But how did this thread turn towards cadets? The OP cited CAPP 50-2, which is a Professional Development publication according to CAPR 0-2. The OP was not talking about Learn to Lead.

[jimmydeanno]

So no one sees any issue with inconsistency of our Core Values, and how they are taught to cadets?
... I did kinda think that someone might at least agree someone should alert the NHQ CP staff of this.

I agree that the Core Values should be presented in a consistent manner. But how did this thread turn towards cadets? The OP cited CAPP 50-2, which is a Professional Development publication according to CAPR 0-2. The OP was not talking about Learn to Lead.

On the contrary, the OP was indeed talking about Learn to Lead.  The objection of the OP is that 50-2 says that the core values are:

Integrity
Volunteer Service
Excellence
Respect

Learn to Lead presents them as follows:

Integrity First
Volunteer Service
Excellence in All We Do
Respect

So, he was wondering why the new cadet textbooks don't have them listed as presented in the Core Values regulation.  So, we are talking about cadets.

[SamFranklin]

Here's something interesting:  In an "Air & Space Power Journal" article, a PhD criticizes the Air Force for presenting its Core Values inconsistently (Blue Book vs. AFDD 1-1). There's a big chart and a long section called "lack of coherence between formulations of the core values."

http://www.airpower.au.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj06/win06/toner.html

[Andrew the Bold]

I've always been taught Integrity, Volunteer Service, Excellence, and Respect, and that's good enough for me.

[BuckeyeDEJ]

As the Air Force's core values stand versus CAP's, there's two things that stick out, one glaring (and I'll recapitulate it from earlier).

"Integrity First" -- wow, if every member of CAP actually lived by that, think how much better off we'd be.

"Service before self" is commendable in CAP. It's also not something we can expect from cadets. And since we're not sworn and held to the same standard as Big Brother Air Force, we can't truly live up to that. So the "volunteer service" permutation doesn't bother me so much.

"Excellence In All We Do" -- enough said.

"Respect" -- Really? Any knucklehead reading the AFPD on the core values will know that respect is inherent in integrity. That makes a fourth CAP-only core value ridiculously redundant. The problem is that whomever suggested this as a standalone core value either misunderstood the Air Force doctrine, didn't read it, or thought it needed to be redundant for emphasis. I say it's unnecessary. If members understand the doctrine and policy -- or if it's even imparted, which it should be right off the bat for all members, this wouldn't be necessary.

So I'm perfectly fine with...

Integrity First -- Volunteer Service -- Excellence In All We Do

And we should strive to live those values every waking, breathing minute where CAP is concerned, and in our own lives, for that matter.

[Eclipse]

Integrity First -- Volunteer Service -- Excellence In All We Do

Why not:

Integrity
Service
Excellence

And frankly even the "Excellence" is redundant to "Integrity".  To BvuckeyeDEJ's point, if you have to explain the value,
it's too subjective to be a "value".