Discipline; an every day chance to do the extraordinary Published Oct. 14, 2008 By Airman 1st Class Daryl Knee 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- Some say the Air Force core values are easy to remember -- almost as if they are scrawled across an internal chalkboard with a clear order of importance. Three lines etched with specific instruction. Integrity First. Check. Service before Self. Check. ... Compliance with regulation. Wait, that's not right. Complacency in the workplace. No. Getting the job done? "I can get the job done," said Airman 1st Class Enrique Manley, an Airman familiar with the difference between professionalism and mediocrity, "but I give it my everything. Just 'getting the job done' is not my standard, and it's not how I operate." The rumble of engines permeates the small shack in which Airman Manley sits. After a quick, yet collected, glance behind him to view the progress of vehicles, he reveals his job. The duty is to maintain positive contact with vehicles and people as they enter and exit the base, he said. A gate guard, in simpler terms. "I think of it this way," Airman Manley said. "When I wake up, I'm a cop. On or off duty -- it doesn't matter. I've sworn to uphold certain truths, and I'll do so. "I strive to better myself through the Air Force, and as a result, better the Air Force as a whole," he continued. "I work so that I don't do just enough to get by." Bearing, he explained. Crisp facing movements, rigid salutes and professional courtesy at all times require both bearing and discipline. Amid looks and comments that range from admiration to contempt, Airman Manley performs all of said abilities on a daily basis. Of the audience, it matters not. Each still receive Airman Manley's respect and generosity. "It's what [the people entering the base] deserve, and it should be what they expect," he said. "Every one's a sir or ma'am. I don't know; I can't put it into words, you know? It makes my day to see others, interact with them and do the right thing." "If you go home and think, 'Why did I come to work today?'" said Tech. Sgt. Darin Pierce, Airman Manley's supervisor, "you haven't done anything. "You haven't done anything," he reiterated. "It takes a whole lot of willpower and determination to uphold the image people have created of us cops. If one person slips or messes up, we all mess up." Airman Manley said he has a firm, if continuously evolving, grasp on how life as a security forces member works. "It's simple," he said. "Help people out at your job and go home. You do your job, and that's it. "Just know to do your job to the best of your ability," the airman continued. "I know I'm not perfect, but I try to limit my mistakes. My mother always said, 'It's easy to be bad, but hard to be good.'" The funny thing about being part of the military, Airman Manley said, is realizing structure and discipline have a much larger place than first thought. The idea is bigger than any one person. "You can't act the way you want to sometimes," he said. "The Air Force has shown me you act on a situation morally and in the correct manner ... and then you teach others to do that -- just like I was taught." Integrity First. Service before Self. The sometimes forgotten third Air Force core value rests just beyond reach. It's almost there. What is it? Grasping at trails of memory reveal no new information. What is it? "Excellence in All We Do," Airman Manley said. Excellence in All We Do.