The year was 1932 and the son of the Army’s first black general officer was attending the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was one of only a handle full of blacks that was approved to attend college at West Point. At that time the United States of America was dealing with segregation, to include the majority of colleges and universities in the country. Despite dealing with racial bias and discrimination he graduated four years later with a class rank of 35 out of 276 students (“Air Force,” 2003, p.427). General Davis was the first black to achieve this feat in the twentieth century (Homan, L., & Reilly, T., 2001, p.204). During World War II he commanded the 99th Pursuit Squadron most famously known as the Tuskegee Airmen …show more content…
Even at West Point he was treated with disrespect and harassment. General Davis endured a silent treatment for four years while at WestPoint. The silent treatment was a like a code of honor for someone that did something wrong. He did nothing wrong; he received it because of the color of his skin (Homan, L., & Reilly, T., 2001, p.206). The cadets knew that if they silenced him long enough he would fall into an Ethical Trap of “Drive for Success” (BCEE, 2014, p. 6), which means to make a decision regardless of the stakes rather than the codes of conduct. Later in his career he displayed courage when he challenged the War Department after his unit was being criticized for not performed well in combat. Ultimately he wanted justice for the men that he led. Rather than falling into any ethical traps he remained humble and directed his anger toward pity. [Interview] (2012) In an interview he stated, “that a feeling of pity probably represents a psychologically defensive ploy on my part.” Even after all of the ridicule and disrespect that went on his career he never brought himself down to the level of his accusers. Through …show more content…
Have I always been a Visionary leader that is willing the deliberately develop Airmen at all costs? Or have I been the “Laissez faire Leader” (BCEE, 2014, p. 8) that does not want to get involved because felt that it was not important to me and it was someone else’s problem. I would have rather done made unethical decisions because that made me popular amongst my peers. To be honest I have been both. Early in my career I can recall an occasion where I avoided a particular subordinate of mine because I just did not want to deal with them. Whenever they would call me or send me an email I would not answer or respond. I figured that I was wasting my time. Eventually they transferred that individual under a different supervisor. I often think back and ask myself why I was this way. I believe it had more to do with my lack of embrace for the Air Force Core Values. It was more about self than it was service. I also think it had a lot to do with my “Commitment Level” (BCEE, 2014, p. 10). I was working at the “Membership Level” (BCEE, 2014, p. 11). I was only doing the minimum and giving others the minimum because I figured that was good enough. Throughout my career I have made some poor unethical decisions. I did not care about cheating on a computer based training test in order to get a 100 percent. I did not care