Air Force Now : Discipline

the noisy turbulent 60s separate us from an earlier time a time when things were quieter the truth is that most of our major institutions in a very short time have lost much of the whole they used to have on the minds and imaginations of Americans especially young americ blind obedience to any kind of Authority seems a thing of the remote past people are asking why a lot more than they ever did before schools and businesses find they can no longer run smoothly on the old do it because I say so basis those who find our churches the prime source of truth and light are a shrinking and aging minority our law enforcement agencies are subject to restraints undreamed of 20 years ago patriotism that says my country right or wrong has given way to a growing one world feeling a sense of loyalty to all mankind finally the family the basic social unit has changed dramatically how many young families can you find today in which the child says sir to the father whether you like it or not whether you think it good or bad the decline of authoritarianism in our institutions is a fact of life take for instance the institution of the Air Force the whole Air Force is run by threats cloth the biggest problem I've ever heard of all if following an order is a threat to your identity you're either badly trained or you don't belong in the Air Force I tell my guys to get a haircut just to keep the old man off my ass personally I could care less like a force lies to you they tell you one thing and turn around another the Air Force doesn't keep up with the times Pilots must wear goggles when flying in open nickers are not to be warned by any repeat any flying Personnel scares overt in length will not be worn by any Ace personel May foro salting on trolley cars [Music] so the Air Force doesn't keep up with the times Well in the main business of the Air Force in flying machines air Weaponry space research the Air Force is way ahead of the times no the gripe refers to a less apparent kind of keeping up with the times refers to a change that's harder to measure this change is in people in what they think in what they respect in what they're willing to give and accept from the institutions to which they belong let me start out by saying that here at Lain in the training center we teach discipline this is where the young guys and the young gals come in the people who come in the Air Force know that they're they're going to be subject to discipline they know that when they signed up when I ask them if it's tough uh the response is now it's not Tough Enough well the definition discipline I like the best and the one I think is most meaningful consists of responsiveness to Command Mission performance morale appearance number of disciplinary infractions and of course the response of authority to those disciplinarian there's a popular misconception today that discipline seeks to to destroy identity I don't believe that is uh true at all I think discipline defines and refines identity the discipline problem in the Air Force if there is a discipline problem and I don't I don't really think there is they're pockets of discipline problems in the Air Force U the the reason for it is that uh we don't enforce the discipline at all levels there's only one one standard for discipline in this Air Force and it's got to be applied across the board discipline dictionaries Define it two ways first as the control of a person achieved by enforced obedience or order through instruction drill or punishment a process imposed from outside yourself and second as self-control as self-applied training that shapes the mental and moral faculties a process that comes from within the two process are closely connected one can lead to the other with some pretty impressive results up it up it up we have a certain drill here that we use where we intercept the ball and just as the youngster intercepts this ball he is hit uh he's getting conditioned to this so that when it happens into a game to him he doesn't think the world's come to an end fact that something happened to him every day of his life on this practice [Music] [Music] field displine in a football team is like displine in Life or raising a family or anything else that you must have it we uh wear the same uniform we look basically the same when we put on that uniform uh we act we act the same we have certain drills that teach this type of disci if uh a person is not willing to succumb to this type of this one he doesn't have a place on a football team they sometimes uh think it's a bad thing but I think once they accept the fact that there are results from this and the results are good they're very concerned with it to start with but after a while they're conditioned to it and like it pays off coach McKay expects high standards to get them he disciplines and practice so that his players practice discipline in games the same thing happens in the Air Force except that standards are more stringent discipline more important those guys are far out they fly within 6 ft of each other they really have to have their thing together and I do too these guys depend on me to have an airplane that works every time all the time if I screw up well all I know is I got to have my thing together too just as much as they do what makes an Air Force mechanic's job especially pressing is that he and everyone else the Air Force is involved in managing the most awesome destructive capability in the history of the world it's a responsibility that calls for the tightest controls the lowest margin of error and the highest level of efficiency as long as the Air Force is authorized to be a ready fighting force a highly disciplined response on all levels remains absolutely essential I'm on The Base softball team and we've got a championship team we're in playoffs tonight at first I thought the coach was kind of tough on us we gave him any crap we didn't follow the standards for the plays he set down for us we got benched I'm on that team because I wanted to be there and if I don't follow those standards I just don't fit into that team being a machinist requires meeting rigid standards and specifications if these standards aren't met the parts won't fit properly it's kind of like people in the Air Force if they don't meet these standards and requirements they don't fit either so whether it's working here on the lathe or on a softball team or or just keep my room clean they all require certain standards that the guys upstairs set up for me and as long as I'm on this team I'll follow through with them I've got to other people depend on me the problem is not really justifying discipline after thinking about it rationally its justification becomes obvious what isn't so obvious is the absolute necessity for the standards that must accompany discipline take for instance the views of a man who's been through three Wars shot down three times evaded captur twice and has been a prisoner of war when I got out of line in the old days you went to the Cavalry for a month and shoveled manure you didn't get a letter of reprimand you didn't get anything else that was a strict discipline I believe some of the younger people when they come in not having now this is some of them but not having had Authority they haven't had too much authority to deal with them they are slightly ODed with authority in a way they're afraid of the man they're afraid he's going to jump his supervisor is going to jump down his neck so he in a way and he he doesn't want to accept responsibility because sometimes they haven't had too much responsibility so this is a hard thing for the young one to overcome and on the other side we have that 18 19 year mid-range NCO who never really got ahead but he kind of resents the younger one because he he had to go through that real strict uh type of discipline himself and now the Air Force is getting a little uh permissive and they kind of resent this they kind of resent the younger men not having to go through the same thing they do now this causes a big breakdown in Communications to me in the armed forces of a democracy the giving and The Taking of an order has always been a delicate matter I first became aware of this problem back in World War II and I was commissioned on the battlefield at Bastone one day I was an enlisted man a sergeant the next day I was a commissioned officer a gentleman by act of Congress I remember how hard it was to shift into the new role even to accept a salute from an old friend we all undergo changes that require us to react differently in different roles unless we understand these reactions we're apt to become victims of emotions all out of proportion the situation hold it take your out of your pockets put your sir put it on right and keep your hands out of your pockets what outfit are you in what what outfit are you in 1365 who's your first sergeant Sergeant Edwards thanks who's yours just keep walking s what's wrong here one way to look at this kind of an exchange is to see it as a losers game one that's doomed to failure from the start Dr Eric burn a psychologist developed the school of thought called transactional analysis as a way to analyze the dealings or transactions between people in any situation he suggested that because of early family experiences each of us grows up with three distinct people inside us the child the parent and the adult Dr burn believed that what we say to others comes from one of these three internal people for example listen to what happens between two workmen on a job hey have you seen my wrench yeah I think it's in the garage the two adults here are communicating with each other quite successfully but see what happens when it's the parent who starts the dialogue well where did you leave my wrench this time don't blame me if you can't keep up with your Dam tools obviously that interaction was a complete failure by being a parent the first man caused his coworker to respond as a child such parent child games are self-defeating and unproductive but let's see how the theory works in the military transaction Haley how many times do I have to tell you to get your haircut according to regulations CH Ser why do you keep picking on me half the guys around here of hair as long as I do both men have fallen into the TR not talking to the adult and the other it's the parent child game again and nothing useful can come out of it let's take a look at another what they're really cracking down this week and I think it's about time you saw the barers oh thanks Serge it's really nice of you to take an interest really all right how this you will get a haircut by 1800 and you will see the commander here the sergeant came on as Nadal but the Airman responded as a child then the parent inside the sergeant took over and the whole exchange went to H of course it can happen the other way around oh I've been looking for you morning Sergeant you know the ig's coming next week yes sir I do well where's that checklist you owe me have you checked your in basket yet this morning no I haven't I got it in there for you late last night oh well I guess I could have checked there first in these transactions Dr Burn's Theory can offer us useful insights into our own behavior I also think that plain good manners the courtesies of mutual respect are crucial we all know how to say yes sir or yes ma'am in a way that's a true insult or we can say it with the easy cordiality of an adult of a fully confident man or woman not a child they're more intelligent they're a good bunch of people uh there's no no question in my mind whatsoever that we're going to have one of the finest organizations in the world in the future we've got the young people in here now that are great discipline is a learning process learning not an authoritative thing I think they should know why I don't think it should be just do it now because it's got to be done now and the poor guy sits there and says well okay it's got to be done this is blind discipline we had years and years ago you both have to get that same adult relationship between yourselves once you have this and once the man is trained uh it's your discipline is there your standard met he does his job you don't have any problem the Air Force has an important job in order for us to do what's demanded of us we must abide by certain rules and standards these standards may not always be easy or comfortable to live with but we know they're necessary we know they give us the cohesiveness and common purpose to maintain our Effectiveness enforcing and abiding by these standards is discipline a personal obligation all of us share