Page 69 - Never Fly Solo

42 | NEVER FLY SOLO
time and put a serious ding in my reputation. The job promo-
tion I wanted would probably never happen.
Take a few minutes and think back to a situation where
your integrity was tested. Have you ever had to choose
between damaging your career by admitting a mistake or pro-
tecting your career by keeping quiet? The right choice matters
more than you might think.
There are several lessons that we can draw from my
experience.

• Your integrity affects everyone. Had I failed to turn
myself in and admit my mistake, a major accident could have
resulted—perhaps even killing one of my wingmen. Sure, the
chances were minimal. But was it a risk I was willing to accept?
There’s always more at stake than your reputation, and when
I really thought about this, my choice became clear. Your
actions have consequences that reach far outside your cockpit,
affecting others, and those effects may not come about until
years later. This is a critical concept to grasp if you are to be a
trusted wingman. And you must surround yourself with peo-
ple who also understand this. Without integrity, there can be
no trust. Partnerships erode, and mission-readiness falters.

• Integrity should not be a choice. Integrity should be
instinctive. You should do the right thing, even when no one
is watching. It’s not something that begins and ends at work—
integrity is twenty-four hours a day or it is nothing. Fighter
pilots are expected to maintain the highest standards of integ-
rity in everything they do—a vitally important expectation
considering the dangerous nature of our work. If I can’t trust
you to do the right thing at home or in the squadron, how far
can I trust you in combat, when the stakes are highest? A true