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Worth fighting for
Posted 7/13/2012 Updated 7/13/2012
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Commentary by Col. Matt Isler
14th Flying Training Wing Vice Commander
7/13/2012 - COLUMBUS, Miss. --
British Philosopher Stewart Mill famously wrote, "A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature, who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." Mill's purpose in "The Contest in America" was to get England to support the North's war for unification and to abolish the "tyrannical injustice" of slavery, but his words remain applicable to each of us today.
Now, we can take Mill's challenge as a question, "for what should we be willing to fight?" and "is there really anything more important than our own personal safety?" Is there something so important that we should be willing to stand our ground, despite danger to ourselves and our fellow Airmen? "Fighting" for such a cause could mean building consensus to move forward on an internal unit issue, struggling with other units and leadership to deal with a command-wide problem, or engaging in physical combat when directed by lawful order. In each of these cases, it will take courage to identify the right thing to do, then to take the required level of risk to see that the mission is accomplished.
First, there are some things that are definitely NOT worth a fight. Some of these things not worth fighting for include getting credit, fame, or recognition for work accomplished; fighting for ideas or things that undermine our core values; or undertaking activities that undermine our country's political leadership or the chain of command. Any energy that Airmen expend on these tasks comes at the cost of energy that could be used for other mission or Airman-related tasks.
The most fundamental thing worth fighting for is our own integrity. Integrity is the basis of trust; it is the glue that holds our society together. In a combat force whose mission is to "fly, fight, and win" integrity is the foundation on which we build our combat effectiveness. Fighting for integrity demands that we take the "hard right" over the "easy out"; it means making your word and signature matter; it assures others that your work is your own and done correctly; and it shows our fellow Airmen that we can be counted-on, even when things are their worst. For leaders, it means walking in the shoes of our Airmen and leading by example, on the toughest shifts and the most challenging missions.
Another objective worth fighting for is the welfare of our Airmen and families. Fighting to "Care for Airmen and Families" means taking action to meet the legitimate needs of our Airmen and their families. The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review elevated "Taking Care of our People," including families, to a strategic-level national defense objective. At our unit level, "Caring for our People" means balancing our mission and available resources to sustain the health, welfare, and safety of our Airmen. When the demands of the mission challenge our Airmen's needs, we need to fight for a healthy, safe, and sustainable work environment, including an environment free from sexual assault and improper relationships between superiors and subordinates. I struggled with this balance between "mission and people" on a partnership-capacity building deployment to the Middle East, where we pushed hard to rapidly generate and fly F-15 training sorties, despite unsustainable living conditions in an improvised tent city. In hindsight, I needed to pause our mission-execution until our Airman-support functions like water, shower, and sewer could meet the legitimate needs of our Airmen.
Finally, one of the best-understood principles worth fighting for is our constitution. For all Airmen, our oaths of enlistment and commissioning call us to "support and defend the constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic." At home station, fighting for the Constitution may involve precisely executing our duties like protecting the base, training U.S. and partner nation pilots, or deploying medically-fit Airmen forward to the fight. At other times, such as when deployed to execute a mission directed by the Secretary of Defense Execution Order, it may involve building partner-nation capacity, enforcing a cease-fire, or executing complex kinetic operations as part of a coalition. To properly perform our mission in each of these cases, it is important that all Airmen understand and properly execute the Rules of Engagement, to include your ability and responsibility to defend yourself and your fellow Airmen according to the self-defense section of the ROE.
As Airmen we have a lot worth fighting for: A country and a constitution whose values we hold dear, our families, and our fellow Airmen. Sometimes, "fighting" means standing fast on our core values and speaking truth to power; other times it is answering our nation's call to arms. In each case, our core values remain to guide our behavior as we fly, fight, and win. |
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