Respect and Integrity in the Military
Respect and integrity, what really do those mean? I could look up those words in the Oxford English Dictionary or Websters, or Dictionary.com and give a scientific, perscise and exact answer to these words. And while that tells you what they mean, does that really give their meaning. Well by Dictionary.com's standards respect is a noun that means to hold in esteem or honor, and to show regard or consideration for. And Dictionary.com says that integrity means an adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character, honesty, and the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished as to morality. The Army on the other hand has their own, similar, but specific definitions for these words, they call values, and are one of the seven Army Values that are at the core of how the Army expects each and every soldier to live and act. To the army Respect, is straight forward, treat someone as they should be treated. Simple enough. Integrity on the other hand is a little more in depth. To the Army Integrity is doing what is right, legally and morally. But what do all of these words really mean? What do they stand for? Why do they matter? While I do not disagree with the Army or Dictionary.com's definitions, at the same time I don't fully agree. There is so much more to respect and integrity then these simple definitions. The concept of what they really mean is so much larger, so much deeper, means so much more, and is much more important. Lets start off with Respect. Respect is one of those strange things that people throw around far too often that I'm not sure if they really know what they are saying. You ask a street thug what respect is, they might tell you that respect is fear, and that you can only get respect through fear and intimidation, and respect can only be found at the end of a gun or bat. Is that really respect though? Will that thug still be respected when the fear is gone? You ask a parent what respect means, they might