In the U.S. Army, every soldier learns to live by the seven-army values. These values are broken down into the acronym LDRSHIP. These values are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage. Loyalty represents the true faith and allegiance every soldier should have to the U.S. Constitution, Army, and fellow soldiers. Duty is the willingness to fulfill one’s obligations. Respect is the treatment of people the way they deserve. Selfless Service teaches us that we should put the welfare of the nation, army and fellow soldier way above our own. Honor states that every soldier should live to the values of the army. Integrity guides soldier on doing what is legally and morally right. Personal Courage says that every soldier should be ready to face fear, adversity, and danger both physically and morally. Despite having to abide by all the values, Personal Courage is my favorite value. In this essay, I present reasons why I choose Personal Courage as my ideal value in the army.
Personal Courage goes beyond facing fears and adversities, as a soldier I have to pick myself up once I fail and showing boldness in overcoming the voice of doubt. I am entitled to risk my safety for the wellbeing of my comrades. Confidence is a key factor that will aid me to respond to adversity. Personal Courage assumes two different forms, physical and moral (Rush, 2006). Physical courage represents overcoming fear and risking bodily harm to perform your duty. A soldier in combat risks her life to achieve a specific objective. Additionally, a soldier is not afraid of being injured or death since they have kept fear aside and opted to do what is necessary. Moral courage is the willingness to stay firm on the army values, principles and convictions despite any threat. Moral courage enables leaders and their subordinates to stand for what is right despite the consequences. Soldiers taking responsibility for their actions display moral courage even when things are going astray. In addition, leaders willing to consider new ideas and initiate changes that will benefit in achieving a common goal, portray moral courage (Thomas, Dickson " Bliese, 2001). I chose Personal Courage as my favorite value since it acts as a pillar on which all the other values are built. As a soldier, I have to portray moral courage by standing firm to exercise all the principles and convictions learned.
Currently, the U.S. soldiers are fighting in varied environments compared to those who fought in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam missions. Well, all these environments were and are critical, dangerous and stressful. In this era, people are changing on a daily basis. Today they are your friends, but tomorrow you find them bombing you soldiers and initiating war. These are harsh conditions demanding personal courage. As a soldier, I am entitled to accept such adversities and confine to the army’s principles. Personal Courage grows as a soldier progresses. It begins as physical courage where a soldier overcomes fears of bodily harm. As a soldier progresses, the physical courage improves to become moral courage. Here moral courage reveals itself as candor. A soldier becomes frank, honest and sincere with others by keeping their words free from bias, prejudice, and malice (D’Alessandro, 2014). Moral courage helps soldiers on a joint mission since they eye on their strategy to achieve a common objective. Personal Courage requires us to step outside our comfort zones and let go of fears that limit us from doing essential things in our mission. This favorite value aid soldiers perform new functions that they have been fearful or never felt comfortable doing. A soldier who lacks Personal Courage will never realize their full potential (Thomas, Dickson " Bliese, 2001). Therefore, Personal Courage is the essential factor that determines a soldier’s performance since fear block them from learning new things, expanding their horizons and exploring possibilities.
Personal Courage is a value that demands personal sacrifice. As a soldier, I will exemplify the real meaning of Personal Courage when I defend my country and shield my comrades from danger. It takes Personal Courage to continue undauntedly and perform with the least resources available. During Basic Combat Training (BCT), soldiers learn these army values, and they live them every day. In conclusion, all the seven Army Values should be reflected by a soldier’s actions and decisions.
References
D’Alessandro, R. J. (2014). Army Officer's Guide. Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books.
Rush, R. S. (2006). Enlisted Soldier’s Guide (seventh edition). Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books.
Thomas, J. L., Dickson, M. W., " Bliese, P. D. (2001). Values predicting leader performance in the US Army Reserve Officer Training Corps Assessment Center: Evidence for a personality-mediated model. The Leadership Quarterly, 12(2), 181-196.
