Integrity - Patriotism - Service - Fraternalism

 

 Integrity is defined as a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. In AFSA Manual 100-2, Policies and Procedures, Section 2, is the AFSA Code of Conduct. This code establishes 24 separate guidelines of conduct for all elected and appointed AFSA and Auxiliary offices, past and present to follow. It has been said, "The price of admission to the Air Force is Integrity First." This is the willingness to do what is right even when no one is looking, or the "moral compass"-the inner voice. Integrity covers several moral traits indispensable to any trustworthy organization. According to the Air Force, "The Little Blue Book," they are: Courage, Honesty, Responsibility, Accountability, Justice, Openness, Self-respect, and Humility. Like the Air Force itself, AFSA relies on its leaders and members displaying the behaviors of Integrity at all times.

 Patriotism can be defined as a love for, or devotion to one's country. According to http://patriot.org/, "The early Patriots of our history were considered traitors to the British crown. They were AMERICAN Patriots. They had a clear vision and a set of founding principles by which they sought to establish a new country - free from the control, taxation and oppression by a detached and powerful sovereign. They wanted and fought for their freedom - for their liberty!" Do you choke up when you here the songs, "America the Beautiful," God Bless the USA," "Star Spangled Banner," or "Taps?" Patriotism can even be found when researching the history and theory of anarchism. Here, it is defined as, "The love of one's birthplace. In short, the love for the spot, every inch representing dear and precious recollections of a happy, joyous, and playful childhood."

 Service is best defined, under AFSA's core values, as the act of serving as a helpful act, or useful labor that does not produce a tangible commodity. The Air Force's core value of Service Before Self means professional duties taking precedence over personal desires. However, in AFSA, the core value of Service takes on a more philanthropic role than that of the Air Force. This can be considered Service to one's fellow man-taking a supporting role in the community and in AFSA. An integral part of community service.

 Fraternalism is relating to, or the involving of brothers; or relating to, or being a fraternity or society. A similar term might be Brotherhood-the quality, or state of being brothers; an association for a particular purpose; or the whole body of persons engaged in a business or profession. Pope John Paul, in his New Year message to the world, prayed that the future would bring a more fraternal and caring world and said on Monday he hoped all people and nations would find peace and prosperity. "My gaze widens now to take in the entire world," he said. "I hope that the new millennium brings all nations peace, justice, brotherhood and prosperity." AFSA Manual 700-1 describes passages from Barbara Tuchman's book, "A Distant Mirror - The Calamitous 14th Century," on a meaning of Fraternalism. She says, of associations during this medieval period, "As nobles had their orders of chivalry, the common man had the confrere or brotherhood of his trade or village, which surrounded him at every crux of life. Usually numbering from 20 to 100 members, …they accompanied a member in his funeral when he died. If a man was condemned to be executed, fellow members accompanied him to the scaffold…If he died insolvent, the association furnished his shroud and the costs of the funeral and helped to support the widow and children." In AFSA terms, Fraternalism is the social and supportive camaraderie enjoyed by a group of people working toward a common cause. We are more than an organization-we are a family-an Air Force enlisted family.