One of the most relevant and important topics in any military institution of learning is a study of the core values of the parent service. Speaking of the core values of Pakistan Air Force, one wonders if these are any different from those of other military services, or even the public at large. Do the values like commitment, courage, discipline, excellence, honour, integrity, respect, selflessness and teamwork differ in the Army, Navy and the Air Force? Or is it that each of these services assigns different priorities to these values based on its working conditions, combat demands, personnel outlook and management styles?
It
does not take long for one to surmise that the value system of each service is
structured largely on intrinsic factors peculiar to it. As an example, the
degree and level of skills, educational qualifications, and even the socio-cultural
background of personnel may be of consequence in determining how the value
system is structured in each service, and what attributes get precedence over
others. Similarly, it is not hard to see that in the fast-paced environment of
the Air Force where the human response time to challenging situations is
reduced drastically, the operability and implementation of any value system needs
an approach nuanced accordingly, as far as priorities and emphasis are
concerned.
While many of us understand the meaning of core values, a
solid definition is vital to this discourse. By their very definitions, ‘core’
means what is at the centre, while ‘values’ define our beliefs. Core values then translate into beliefs that are at the centre
of who we are, and define us both as individuals and professionals. They are
the critical, intangible essentials that bring continuity and meaning to life. They
are the pillars that support all we do, and define who we are. While core
values define us as individuals, they also define our country’s institutions. Both people and institutions have values and
thesee need to be shared values. When individual and institutional values
conflict, you can expect a crippling impact on one or both.
In these modern times, we live in an era of relative values,
where right is determined by what advances one’s personal interests. That is
completely in contrast to the core values we aspire to. Core values are the beacons, the means by
which you always know what to do, because you are guided by that consistent,
unchanging set of values. They help you navigate through turbulent times,
whether on an individual or at the institutional level.
Values develop and evolve over the course of a lifetime. You
may see them on the wall of a building or read them in the pages of a book, but
it takes time for them to move from the wall or the page, to your heart.
Core
values are standards on which rest the very edifice of the military. These
values, along with ethical leadership, instil confidence, earn lasting respect,
and create willing workers. They guarantee the trust of subordinates in the
orders given by their leaders. They create the special esprit de corps and bonding that is so essential for the teamwork
required in combat. They ensure the confidence of our people in the defence of Pakistan.
The core
values are much more than minimum standards. They remind us what it takes to
get the mission done. They inspire us to do our very best at all times. They
are the common bond among all comrades in arms, and they are the glue that
unifies the force and ties us to the war heroes and devoted public servants of
the past. That is why the people of
Pakistan rate the armed forces, and especially the Pakistan Air Force, amongst
the most respected institutions in the country.
Core values remind us of the price of joining the
Pakistan Air Force, Army or Navy. They remind personnel, whether officers,
airmen or civilians, to display honesty, courage, responsibility, openness,
self-respect, and humility in the line of duty. Core values help us acknowledge
rules, follow them faithfully, accept accountability and practice justice. They
help us respect all personnel as fundamentally worthy. They instil a sense of
discipline, self-control and faith in the system. By studying the core values
we also eventually discover the importance of duty, honour, dedication,
competence, and a host of other professional requirements and attributes. Just
as they help us evaluate the pulse of our organization, core values also serve
as beacons guiding us to the path of righteous conduct. Core values help us inculcate
a culture of ethical commitment to our own service and the country.
The core values chosen by the Pakistan Air Force are those without
which the Pakistan Air Force cannot perform as expected of it by the nation. These are the values that instil confidence, earn lasting
respect, and create willing workers. More importantly, they are the values that
buttress mental and physical courage when we enter combat.
There
is no limit on the number of core values that we can include in our list.
Several militaries of the world go by just a single core value, usually enshrined
in their mottoes. Many others prefer to have anywhere from three to seven core
values. The Pakistan Air Force felt that it was a good idea to keep the list
crisp and short, that is easy to remember, and which can be displayed as catchy
reminders in the work centres. This also makes it that much easier to
implement.
We
have to remind ourselves that with a traditional adversary who can field a much
larger array of lethal hardware and personnel in arms than us, the value system
of the Pakistan Air Force must be so structured that it fortifies the potential
of its fighting men and women. This is
bound to considerably offset any quantitative limitations of aircraft and
weaponry, as has been clearly demonstrated in many a past conflict. In short we are talking of force multipliers
in the shape of highly motivated and dedicated professionals imbued with lofty
values, to fight a future war.
Integrity
Let
us start with integrity which is known as the bedrock of a value system in
any organisation. Integrity is the soundness of moral principle, especially in
relation to truth and fair dealing, uprightness, honesty and sincerity. Integrity is all about people, and it has a
direct bearing on what they give back to an organisation.
Integrity
also means the condition of having no part of an element missing. In other words, it means undivided,
complete. It implies oneness between
words and actions. People of integrity
conform their words to their actions.
They tell the truth. They
practice what they preach. They build
the culture of trust.
In the military, integrity has a special place; that is
because the military is a very special profession – the profession of
arms. Military men are entrusted with
the security of the nation. The tools of
their trade are lethal, and they engage in operations that deal with life and
death.
Integrity is a character trait. It is the willingness to do what
is right even when no one is looking. It is the inner voice, the voice of
self-control and the basis for the trust imperative in today's military.
Integrity is the ability to hold together and properly regulate
all of the elements of a personality. A person of integrity, for example, is
capable of acting on conviction. A person of integrity can control deviant
impulses and baser appetites.
A person of integrity possesses moral courage and does what is
right even if the personal cost is high. Honesty is the hallmark of the
military professional because in the military, our word must be our bond. A
person of integrity is never irresponsible and acknowledges his or her duties
and acts accordingly. A person of integrity does not try to shift the blame on
others, or take credit for the work of others. A person of integrity practices
justice.
To have integrity is also to respect oneself as a professional and
a human being. A person of integrity does not behave in ways that would bring
discredit upon himself or herself, or the organization to which he or she
belongs.
Closely tied to integrity is the concept of honour. It is
about keeping your word. It is conducting yourself in the highest ethical
manner in dealing with colleagues, seniors and juniors. It is about allegiance
to the organisation.
Integrity
stands to be the most important core value for the Pakistan Air Force because
lack of it – manifested by unethical practices – directly impacts operational
readiness. A few examples might help to convey this point.
Monthly,
quarterly and annual reports and returns have been instituted by the Air
Headquarters to help assess the goings-on in the field, so that a realistic picture
emerges. Reports and returns are thus a most vital feedback to the
planners. Development plans, and more
important, war plans are based on these reports and returns. Sometimes those in
position of authority and responsibility lose sight of the importance of these
vital statistics, and efforts are made to reflect that all is well. This propensity feeds on the demands of the
higher authorities, who are all too willing to bask in the glory and comfort
that “everything is fine”.
Similarly, aircraft serviceability and reliability reports must not be
just a thin veneer of efficiency of the Squadron, the Wing and the Base, but a
true reflection of reality. In armament
results too, loopholes in the scoring system must not allow for bad scores to
be glossed over.
Another area of concern is aircraft occurrences. As the stakes are high for a pilot who is
involved in an accident, lack of integrity sometimes shows through. When the chips are down, the choice between
concealing the truth and being forthright can get mixed-up, because we are all
prone to making a choice that suits us most, or one that saves our skin, so to
speak. Incorrect narration of events,
doctoring of aircraft data, and alteration of on-site evidence are known to
have taken place on occasions. Incorrect findings and recommendations are bound
to draw out wrong lessons and recourse to irrelevant remedial measures.
The above-mentioned are some areas in Air Force operations where lack of
integrity unnecessarily places lives and equipment at risk. One can extrapolate
the consequences of such a situation on the operational readiness of the
service. Given that we are resource-constrained,
every little counts, and we cannot afford to fritter away our combat potential
due to any shortcoming in our value system. Integrity is, therefore, the primary core
value on which the very edifice of Pakistan Air Force rests.
Excellence
As a
moral standard, excellence ordinarily means accomplishing the mission well. It
means a determined effort in getting the job done right, and on time. The
military function is so important and so exacting, that getting the job done
demands more in the military than it does elsewhere. Mission failure in the
military endangers national survival, and performing the military role requires
capabilities and entails risks not found in other callings. For this reason, a
standard of excellence is needed merely to get the job done in the military.
Getting by with a minimal level of effort may suffice in the civil, but
excellence is the only acceptable standard for accomplishing the military
mission.
As a
moral ideal, however, excellence demands more than mission accomplishment.
Excellence also demands that men and women in uniform constantly produce better
results. This is the meaning of ‘excel’: to surpass, to go beyond what is
expected. As an ideal, excellence means exceeding the demands of duty to
achieve results in excess of just getting the job done. Merely maintaining
today’s standard, merely achieving today’s mission requirements, puts the
military in danger of falling behind. A
technologically advanced service like the Air Force must be innovative to protect
and promote the nation’s interests. It
must take risks, and must encourage others to take risks, to improve its
organization, its procedures, and its doctrine. Excellence as ‘constant
improvement’ is the goal of playing well and winning. To defend the nation, it
is not enough to accomplish the mission. Endeavours must be made to find ways
to excel, to go beyond mere mission accomplishment.
Excellence
in all we do does not mean that we are excellent all the time. It just means
that we try, and we try to do our best. Conformity is too easy. Mediocrity is
too safe. Too many people settle for less than their best, and convince
themselves that quality and integrity are negotiable. Remember, there are only
two directions to move in life, either forward or backward. It is impossible to
stand still; standing still means you are actually falling behind. To
constantly see problems and challenges as opportunities involves a passion for
excellence.
Excellence
is closely dependent on merit, wherein appointments and responsibilities are
assigned to individuals based upon their capabilities, namely intelligence,
credentials, and education, determined through fair initial selection
processes, and later, confirmed by the commanders through honest on-going
evaluations. Excellence can only thrive in the absence of nepotism, cronyism
and discrimination. It can flourish where everyone has a fair chance to put in
his or her best. Only in such an environment can you live your life with a
passion for excellence, where you can make a difference.
Excellence
can flourish where everyone has a fair chance to put in his or her best. Only a
passion for excellence can make a difference. The old timers of the Pakistan Air Force tell
us that the service was famous for laying a premium on merit. Cronyism and ‘sifarish’ were absolutely anathema to
the senior commanders. They ensured that
only the most capable were given the opportunity to lead. That is how the small
service came to be known for its excellence not just within the country, but
far and wide. The famous air raids on Pathankot and Kalaikunda, and many a
high-scoring dogfight were no chance walkovers, but were the outcome of the
commanders accepting nothing but what was perfect, during peacetime. With such
a legacy of excellence we must know that it is possible for Pakistan Air Force to
repeat the great feats of daring.
Mediocrity
in performing our tasks would, in effect be a self-imposed handicap, which is
tantamount to giving up when called by the nation to take up the challenge. Striving for excellence is actually a
fulfilment of the promise we made to the country. This core value is bound to see us take up
the challenge and fulfil our mission successfully, because we would have
excelled at every step, previously. Like
integrity, excellence is a force multiplier par excellence.
Teamwork
One of the fundamental
purposes of basic training, as we might remember from our Academy days, was to
break down our notion of individuality, and instil us with a sense of teamwork.
It may have sounded unreasonable having to take the blame for what others did,
or carrying someone else's rifle along with one’s own, when he couldn’t press
on during a field exercise. However, we
have a much better sense for the importance of teamwork now.
The fact of the matter is
that the nature of what we do in the military is too complicated for us to
succeed alone. This can be a hard concept in a society where individualism is
often prized above all else, but we do not have to sacrifice our individuality
to form a good team. We do, however, need to subordinate our sense of
individuality to the greater goals of the team.
A team is composed of
individuals, and it thrives on the talents and abilities they bring. Star
players are always welcome on a team, so long as their contributions lift the
team up, and not just themselves.
In a close-knit team,
however, the adverse actions of an individual always reflect on, and hamper the
performance of the group. Disciplinary problems are created by individuals, but
they disproportionately afflict the team.
Some people are not
comfortable with the fact we must rely on others for our own success. Such
characters do not belong in the military. The good part of learning to accept
the importance of teamwork in our profession is that you share in successes
which far exceed your individual ability to cause such effects.
Teamwork is much more
efficient than individual endeavour. Working together and communicating means
that military operations can be organized and properly coordinated. If everyone
worked independently, there would be chaos.
More can be achieved as a
team. Teamwork is synergy, or the synthesis of energies. In other words, it is
the coming together of all participants for a common project goal. We only have
to look at some social insects like ants and termites to see how their teamwork
helps them in mega-projects that are beyond the individuals’ lifetime
capacities. Quite obviously, teamwork also saves time, which is a reflection of
economy of effort.
Working as a team means
shared responsibility. Being in the military can be emotionally overwhelming at
times, but working as a team means that you're not alone – you are surrounded
by people who have experienced the same things as you have. This support and
camaraderie is absolutely important in the military.
In a
small service like the Pakistan Air Force, there is no room for individual,
departmental or branch glory at the expense of collective accomplishment. In every military service, there are branches
organised to perform specialised tasks. Personnel
who undertake some of the more demanding or hazardous tasks, or those tasks that
entail sophisticated expertise, have an understandable elitist air about them.
The aviators of the air force, the tank-men of the army and the submariners of
the navy are typical examples of those who consider themselves as the more
important ones amongst their comrades.
Within limits of good sense and reason, this may not be a bad thing, but
when it creates divisions within the services, it can have a diminishing effect
from the overall effort put in by everyone. Such a schism, especially in a
small service, is unacceptable. As
stated earlier, the nature of what we do in the
military is too complicated for us to succeed alone.
A
flier may think that he puts in more important work than anyone else, but
remember that when all flying is over in the afternoon, the engineer gets to
work supervising the maintenance, which can go on well into the night. No aircraft can be declared airworthy for the
next day till the engineer is satisfied, no matter how many extra man-hours it
takes to support flying operations.
Similarly
the air defenders and air traffic controllers are on duty surveilling the
airspace, and controlling air traffic day and night, slugging it out in the
field, and not infrequently, from remote locations. One can hardly think of
other branches that rough it out more to support air operations.
Just
as sporting teams, no player can claim to be more important than the others.
Try playing without a goal-keeper or a full-back and you are sure to end up as
a loser. It would, thus, be so much better to keep the overall mission of the
air force in focus, and work together much like a sporting team – TEAM PAKISTAN
AIR FORCE. With such a team, the air
force can punch much larger than its size, which is exactly what the prevalent
circumstances demand.
Linkages with
Other Values
It
may have been noticed that each of the three values discussed has linkages with
others, so omitting some of them does not really mean that the PAF has
disregarded them completely. Honour and moral courage, for instance, are linked
to integrity because a person cannot have integrity if he is disgraceful or
cowardly. Discipline and commitment have
a direct connection with excellence, because a person who is not orderly in his
methods, and who has no commitment to his organisation, can never excel. Similarly, teamwork is possible only if the
participants comprise the ingredients of respect and selflessness. These linkages
help us narrow down the choice of core values that are straightforward, easy to
comprehend and unproblematic from the point of view of their implementation.
Core Values as
Leadership Tools
In
sum, core values alongside the linked values are the common bond that surpass
our ethnic, sectarian and provincial associations, and unify the Pakistan Air
Force. These values help us identify with those who served the country with
devotion and dedication. These values help us withstand the moral erosion that
we witness around us, and help us get back to an environment of ethical
commitment.
Most
importantly, core values are an excellent guideline for leaders as well as
commanders to emulate. It must be stressed that you do not have to wait to be a
commander to be able to implement the core values. You can be a leader by
following the core values and turning yourself into a role model, no matter
what your rank. Leadership from below is as important as leadership from above
in implementing the core values.
Conclusion
The core values that have
been described are not the only way to look at them. There are other philosophical interpretations
of the core values, and it would also be instructive to examine them from perspectives
offered by law, history, behavioural sciences, management theory, political
science, religion, and so on. An analysis driven by the structure and the
purpose of ethics and morality can be particularly useful for explaining the
immense power of the core values. This discourse was just a first step and
needs to be studied in greater depth.
Core
values must be a major topic of education and training, not just at the
Academies, but later on, at all centres of higher learning, as a continuum.
Core values need to be taught at an early stage, and continuously reinforced
throughout later service. In addition,
each one of us needs to take responsibility of engaging the sub-ordinates in
discussions about what role these values play in Pakistan Air Force. While a
‘zero-defect’ air force may be the theoretical goal, a practical approach
should focus on improving the ethical environment, no matter that we may not
achieve it completely. It might seem too far-fetched that with the three
core-values, the Pakistan Air Force will somehow encompass all dimensions of
morality. However, the three simple words that have been spelt out are
sufficient in themselves to make a change of magnitude that we can all be proud
of. The three core values that Pakistan Air Force has chosen for itself can
help it face challenges in view of factors like manpower, size, resource
constraints, and technological sophistication. In essence it is all about men
and women of the Pakistan Air Force, imbued with integrity, committed to
excellence and sustained by teamwork. For a small, highly professional and
technologically advanced air force, these core values can be a winning
combination in the circumstances we find ourselves today.
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