Integrity is one of the most talked about and most abused of the Seven Army Values. First we must define integrity it is doing the right thing consistently. That means that we must do the legally and morally correct thing every time. Just because something is hard or unpleasant does not mean that we can look the other way. Doing the right thing is not a matter of deciding do I help my fellow soldier and let him slide on an Army regulation or do I uphold the regulation. It means doing both they are both equally important. Sometimes helping a soldier means that you must enforce the regulations and in some cases that can mean discharging them from the Army at other times it means fighting for the soldier and getting them the help that they need to succeed in the Army.
By consistently doing the right thing and showing no favoritism we improve ourselves, our fellow soldiers, and the Army as a whole. Integrity improves everyone by making sure that everyone can expect equal treatment and not fear a mistake or a supervisor’s mood. We improve ourselves by building pride in doing what is right and overcoming obstacles whether they be pear pressure or just fear. We also build a reputation that will last a lifetime and reinforce the personal courage to do what we feel is right. Our fellow soldiers are improved because they know what to expect and do not have to worry will I be destroyed because he was in a bad mood or will I get off easy because he likes me. Integrity also improves the moral of soldiers knowing that their fellow soldiers will do right thing and take care of each other no matter how hard that is. The Army is improved because the general character of soldiers is increased and we do not force good soldiers to quite or become bad soldiers because they grew fed-up with arbitrary and inconsistent decisions.
Integrity is not just punishing soldiers it also is about helping them. You must be willing to give the same rewards to soldiers