Operating from a Position of Integrity

Helicopter rescue crews do not get to choose the nature or timing of a rescue. In a very short period, crews can be thrust into a dynamic rescue, in which the lives of their crew and the lives of those they are attempting to rescue depend on sharp aviation acumen and judgement. These crews are required to make timely decisions with incomplete information. A challenging rescue equates to a no notice, high stakes assessment of preparedness. 

My work in the Coast Guard for the last two decades has been to support our helicopter aircrews in their preparation and training for demanding missions. As my career matured and my leadership role grew, I worked to empower rescue crews by sharing principles and philosophy I developed prosecuting search and rescue cases. Additionally, I knew that the privilege of saving lives came with the inevitable burden of rescue efforts that resulted in lives lost, causing rescuers to witness significant trauma and tragedy.  Since the negative, psychological repercussions of such events are typically addressed after the fact, I sought to build the rescuers’ resilience ahead of it. To accomplish this, I created a forum that I referred to as “Operating from a Position of Integrity” (OPI for short). These posts elaborate on operating from a position of integrity by sharing cornerstones of the OPI culture and philosophy. 

To start the dialog I wrote, “How do we operate when we are faced with challenging decisions – our doctrine is grey, incomplete, or do we need to diverge from policy to affect a high gain mission? Our goal is to operate from a position of integrity – always. Simple but difficult. Despite constant pursuit, we will get it wrong. In these cases, we can operate with integrity by learning from the experience and sharing with the group to improve as a team.

Up to this point, we’ve reviewed scenarios and some intricacies during training sessions (e.g. case review, lessons learned, mishap discussion, etc.). This is exceptionally worthwhile and will continue. However, it is rare that we are all present and the discussion is limited to our collective memory. I am going to use this forum to write notes that capture discussions, requests for clarification, and materials that relate to our goal of operating from a position of integrity.”

Although the culture we were building was specific to helicopter rescue, the lessons learned have a broader application and can be harnessed by a much wider population than helicopter rescue crews. I hope that the notes are applicable to your life and help you hone your craft and spiral up, closing the gap between the person you are and the person you can be. 

Thanks in advance for following along!