Cadets reflect on Seven Army Values
Emily LaForme
3rd Jul '17
Fort Knox, Ky.,– Basic Camp 5th Regiment Cadets attended a seminar where they learned and discussed the Seven Army Values and how they can apply the values to their leadership training.
Basic Camp 5th Regiment Cadets attended an Army Values seminar on July 2, 2017, Fort Knox, Ky. The seminar teaches Cadets about the seven core values of the Army: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. The Cadets participated in a group discussion about each value and how it can be applied to leadership roles. (Photo by Emily LaForme).
Cadet Zachary St Laurent, student at Georgia Military College, native of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, attended the seminar alongside the rest of his regiment.
"My fellow Cadets and I are learning about the Seven Army Values: which are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. We are learning about the definition of all of those and how they relate to being an Officer or being an Non-Commissioned Officer inside the United States Army," said St Laurent.
These values make up the foundation for a successful leader.
"The Seven Army Values are something we need to learn, because any good leader at all has these values," said St Laurent. "A leader is able to achieve something because of his team. If the leader can implement these values and other core beliefs that the Army holds true, if the leader can do this, then the team can work together. One of the values does teach unison, and it's only with unison and loyalty to each other that the objective can be completed."
During the seminar, Cadets participate in a group discussion about each value and how they apply their own personal experience to understand them.
"The way we take these values is off of personal experience. Being young Cadets, we'll make mistakes, but it's through our mistakes that we learn how to implement loyalty at what time, how to implement integrity when we fall short or we slip up on something, and we have to be honest and truthful in that moment," said St Laurent. "Its through these values that we pull together and come up with an idea or a solution to get through this. It's about using these values to push each other to greater modes of success."
Basic Camp 5th Regiment Cadets attended an Army Values seminar on July 2, 2017, Fort Knox, Ky. The seminar teaches Cadets about the seven core values of the Army: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. 2nd Lt. Ward led a group discussion about each value and how it can be applied to leadership roles. (Photo by Emily LaForme).
St Laurent holds personal courage as the most important value in his life.
"Out of all the Seven Values, I think personal courage is most important to me. When I was growing up, I didn't have everything that every kid wanted, so I always had to put myself out of my comfort zone. To be honest, if it weren't for my parents pushing me and the personal courage that I had, I wouldn't be where I am today in the program," said St Laurent.
Cadet Nicholas Smith, student at Georgia Military College, native of Orlando Florida, also attended the seminar.
"All the people here are Cadets attempting to commission as a second lieutenant after graduating from college. Everybody has to learn these values throughout this training, because they are going to be future leaders and you have to have these core values," said Smith. "The leaders promote these values. Leadership means to me: the ability to have a group of people and move them toward a common goal in a way that is in unison."
Smith favors the values of integrity and respect.
"One of the Army values that I think is really important is integrity. Integrity means doing the right thing when no one is looking, or anybody of leadership is looking," said Smith. "That means that if somebody tells you to do something, you don't just do it when someone is watching you, you do it all the time. The other one is respect. Respect means treat someone the way you want to be treated, and that means don't just treat somebody some way just because you want something, treat someone the right way all the time."
The seminar also serves to bring the Cadets together and understand the roles they serve as a unit.
"We are on a team, so we have to stay loyal to each other, respect each other, and always do the right thing," said Smith.
The Cadets will apply the Seven Army Values to the remainder of their time at Cadet Summer Training and their continued journey toward becoming future leaders in the Army.
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