Do you wear your integrity?

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Timothy Carney
  • 60th AMW Command Post
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  I love my apartment. Located in the California foothills, I enjoy the view it affords me, which includes my neighbors as they come and go. Of course, with Travis nearby, it’s not surprising that most of my neighbors are Airmen just like me. 

But I’ve noticed something about most of them. Hardly any of them wear their hats in uniform. 

Of course, I can hear the thoughts already: “Here we go with another lecture about dress and appearance” or “So what if they’re not wearing a hat outside; after all, they’re off-base aren’t they, what’s the problem?” Well, the problem, as I see it, is glaring. 

If you’re asking those questions, you’ve overlooked something that many hardly think about anymore, “What kind of a message does it send?” 

Doing something as simple as wearing a hat outside in uniform is an exercise in integrity. Yes, there’s that word again. Integrity is doing what’s right, especially when no one is watching. 

Gen. George S. Patton once remarked, “You are always on parade.” 

What does that mean? Well, it means that even when you think no one is watching you, someone, somewhere undoubtedly is. I bet my fellow Airmen who were coming and going without hats didn’t think I was watching them. 

But getting back to the subject, what’s the message these troops are sending? 

For starters, they’re sending the message that dress and appearance standards only apply on-base. 

We all know what the standards say: hats are to be worn outside in uniform … on or off base. So why aren’t they? An inconvenience? Forgetfulness? Whatever the reason, the message they send stands out clearly, “I lack integrity.” 

Other messages are sent too. What about the new Airmen fresh from tech school who are watching these role models not wearing hats? More than likely, it’ll be a case of “monkey see, monkey do.” 

Will those habits now spread over into their duties? As they ignore hats outdoors, will they also start to ignore checklists and technical orders too? If it starts with something as simple as not wearing a hat, where does it stop?

“Aaw, come on!” you may be saying. “Do you really expect me to believe that not wearing a hat is going to lead to all that?” 

Well, let me leave you with this thought. A snowflake is a very small thing, almost insignificant. But did you ever build a snowman? One snowflake added to others can make a mighty big ball. So can small, almost insignificant actions like not wearing a hat.
An unworn hat, an unused checklist, an unheeded safety warning … it doesn’t take much to make a big problem. As the old saying goes, “If you play with tar, some of it is sure to stick.” 

So, do you wear your integrity?