Our core values are more than standards; they are the glue that ties us together as we accomplish the mission. I suspect, for most of us, the “Little Blue Book“ is a reminder of what we were taught many years before we knew integrity, service and excellence as Air Force Core Values. I remember very clearly my lesson on integrity.

My dad took my brother and I into town on a Saturday afternoon to run some errands. We parked in a large parking lot that had numbered parking spaces. Located at the exit was a box with numbered slots corresponding to the numbered parking spaces; that's where you put the fee for parking. The parking lot operated on the honor system when there was no parking attendant on hand to take the fee.

The lot was open but there was no attendant on hand for the day. Ours was the only car in the lot. We parked for an hour or so, long enough to complete our errands. As we left, Dad drove to the box and to our shock, took 50 cents out of his pocket to pay for parking. (In the early sixties, 50 cents could buy a burger, fries and small coke at McDonald's.)

“Dad, stop,“ I said. “What are you doing? There's nobody here.“

My dad quietly deposited the money and started driving out of the parking lot. My brother and I looked at each other in shock.

“Dad, why did you do that,“ I asked.

He responded, “Because it costs 50 cents to park.“

“There's nobody here; we're the only car in the lot,“ I said. “You could've driven outta' here and nobody would've known.“

He stopped the car, looked at my brother and me and said, “You would.“

“Yeah, but we wouldn't tell and we'd still have the 50 cents,“ we told him.

“Boys, it's wrong,“ he said with a stern voice.

“But, Dad, nobody is watching,“ we said.

My dad didn't understand or care about political correctness. So, he got a little theological on us, as he pointed toward heaven and said, “Somebody's always watching. But that's not the issue. Driving off without paying is dishonest. The issue here is honesty and paying is the honest thing to do. Would you have driven out of the lot without paying?“

We looked at each other and said, “Sure would. Fifty cents means a lot more to us than to the parking lot attendant, and there's nobody here.“

“Oh, I see,“ he said softly. “Nobody's here and since it's just 50 cents, it's OK?“

“Yes,“ we yelled emphatically. (We were making progress. It looked like Dad might see the error of his ways.)

He surveyed us with that “dad look“ before he spoke. “Boys, 50 cents seems to be a mighty cheap price to sell out. Is that all your principles are worth?“

We stared back at him and then each other in stunned silence. The drive home was quiet.

The “Little Blue Book“ defines integrity as the “willingness to do what is right even when no one is looking. It is the 'moral compass' -- the inner voice; the voice of self-control; the basis for the trust imperative in today's military.“

Dad never read the “Little Blue Book.“ He just understood integrity, practiced what he preached and by doing so passed that understanding to the next generation. Seems to me that's our responsibility as Air Force leaders, too. Integrity: Live it one day at a time and let your example mentor our next generation.