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Living the Army's Ethos and Values
11 September 2007
Message from Chief of Army,
Major General Lou Gardiner
Values are not something that can be turned on and off at whim. We have to live by our values in our everyday life and at work, which for us may be on the battlefield when we must make crucial decisions.
If you have sound values and ethos, you can rest assured that you will make decisions of which New Zealanders would be proud. But if you don’t demonstrate those behaviours which show Courage, Commitment, Comradeship and Integrity, and if you don’t live in a manner that shows Service, Loyalty and Honour, you could make decisions that could be dangerous, illegal or lacking in the appropriate level of compassion. This could be ultimately detrimental to the reputation and standing of New Zealand, your colleagues and yourself.
The values and ethos booklet The Way of the New Zealand Warrior launched this week is very important to us within the New Zealand Army. The booklet uses our heritage and our heroes from the past and present to illustrate some of the values we are talking about. A series of posters, some of which appear in this issue of Army News, have also been produced to illustrate the ethos and values essential to the way we operate.
Often the best way to teach is through story telling. In the booklet, the examples given demonstrate actions that illustrate our values and ethos by telling true stories of New Zealand soldiers who showed admirable behaviour in times of crisis.
Everyone in the Army will be given a copy of The Way of the New Zealand Warrior. The booklet tells stories about our rich heritage as an Army. The booklet shows what behaviours we expect in all circumstances. I expect all Army personnel to read, learn and apply the lessons provided by our historical comrades. It will assist in making all of us more aware of our responsibilities and duties regarding personal behaviour and its effects on others.
This page was last reviewed on 19 October 2007 and is current.
