Timeliness
Timeliness is important in all aspects of life. In the army they say “10 minutes prior is on time, and being on time is late”, that is the standard set forth and expected to be accomplished by the armed forces. By oversleeping I not only failed to meet the standard, I also failed my squad and my platoon because they did not have accountability of everyone, another main standard of the army. I also took the time of my team leader, who had to sit and wait for me while everyone else did PT. Missing movement not only cost me more time in the end, it cost the whole rest of the unit in one way or another. Timeliness is also the first step in a soldiers’ task to keep accountability at all times. Accountability is defined by
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By not being able to do something as simple as 10 minutes prior, the soldier can potentially affect the work of an entire office full of people.
Most important information pertaining to the unit is put out at morning formations, STTs, and Commanders’ Calls. Being late to any of these events can not only bring adverse action against a soldier for that event, it could also cause the soldier to miss pertinent information about upcoming events; potentially causing more corrective training or even UCMJ action. Article 87 of the Code of Military Justice “Missing Movement” states “any member of the armed forces who neglect or design to miss the movement of a ship, aircraft, or unit with which they are required in the course of duty to move can be punished as a court martial may direct”. Untimliness is not only a detriment to the strategic environment; it can be life altering in the tactical environment. Failure to maintain proper timelines and accountability of soldiers and equipment during field exercises can result in accidents and loss of government property. The army has another saying “train how you fight”, meaning to treat every exercise just as if it were a real-life combat situation so that a soldier would know exactly what they needed to do if that situation actually came to be. Inability to be on time for training events hit times, etc; shows that a soldier could potentially not be reliable in a more serious situation. This causes breakdown of unit
At the right time, doing the right thing at the right time. Without having accountability there is not knowing of where or in what shape your equipment is in and there for having a negative effect on a unit’s combat readiness.
For example, if I had not been in my room when I was on quarters, and a fire had erupted in the barracks, I would now be putting my battle buddies or superiors trying to locate me at an extreme and unnecessary risk, especially if they were unable to contact me by phone or if I had not contacted the chain of command. With communication, punctuality and being at your prescribed place of duty all being essential facets of military life and having a direct correlation to the soldierly appearance and combat readiness of a unit, these kinds of faults and mistakes cannot be allowed to permeate our disciplined ranks and taint the effectiveness of our unit . Without punctuality, and therefore discipline there can be no effectiveness or efficiency in our mission of protecting our own and destroying our enemies. If we cannot efficiently destroy the enemy we are no longer an effective or worthwhile unit in the Army.
The importance of accountability, are being on time and in the right uniform. The main reason we have formations and that we are trying to keep account of personnel to know where everybody is at, at all times. I have learned in the past years that I have been in that being on time is the most important thing that you need to do. For one the accountability of personnel is major, it plays a big role in the deployment and the readiness of soldiers. I would have to say that I was wrong for not showing up at my appointed place of duty I should have gotten up and made it to the swimming pool. But in all things that have been done I have seen that accountability is the most important asset here for
To be early, is to be on time, to be on time, is to be late, and to be late, is out of the question. Being able to adhere to a given deadline in a group situation, demonstrates responsibility, time management, group cohesion, and progress. However, being that a group is a collection of individuals with separate lives, there are times when members of the group may be experiencing extenuating circumstances preventing the group from completing a task on time. In such a scenario, communication within the chain of command is essential. Failing to communicate problems that may arise, and inhibit group progression towards a task will result in failure to communicate the task, group division, distrust between the chain of command and the group,
Therefore, it reflects poorly on the commander in charge of the task. Which leads to punishment of the leadership in charge of the soldiers who did not report and were not accurately accounted for.
If a soldier doesn't follow orders while in a combat zone this makes them combat ineffective and when a
As a soldier you want to always make a great impression on your leaders, and not being able to make it on time is not acceptable to them. It would make things run alot smootherif everyone was on time all of the time. If no one was at the right place at the right time, it would set what ever mission you have back. It also makes a negative impact on your leadership. However, I also feel that as leaders, they should also realize that things may happen with the soldiers. Whether its being late to formation, missing an appointment due to some circumstance, as long as the soldier doesn't make it a habbit then forgiveness should be granted on that instance.
For example you are told to be at work at 0900 work call, you are supposed to be there at 0850. But, you may ask, how does me not being at 0630 formation on Fort Hood for PT put other people’s lives in danger? Well, it doesn’t. But, making being on time, or even a bit early, a habit can help when you eventually do end up down range and you need to be on time for a mission. Civilians are also expected to be at their right place at the right time. The only difference is being on time is on time in the civilian world. If work is at 10:00 then as long as it’s not 10:01, then you are in the clear. Showing people you can be on time not only shows you have discipline, but you respect for your superior leaders. Punctuality shows that you are responsible, trustworthy and can follow directions. Punctuality isn't just an order that the Army requires, but also a good personal trait that is a reflection of a person’s character, it shows that you have personal integrity and self-discipline. While some of us are occasionally late due to circumstances beyond our control, habitual tardiness shows a lack of respect for other people and their time. If someone is late continually that shows that they more than likely do not care about what their NCO tells them. Nobody wants to depend on a person that can’t even simply show up for a formation that is held every day at the same time and place. In basic accountability and being on time was strongly instilled in us
In today's army, being on time can be a paramount activity. Consequences for not showing up on time can be disasterous. In a normal job, you get up, go to work, and come home, and that is the limit of the level of involvement. The army is not one of those jobs. In the army, we are constantly training our mind and bodies for a combat environment. In such an environment, the level of involvement must be much higher. It is understood that any mistake, however seemingly small can have extreme consequences. Among those consequences are situations which can lead to soldiers loosing their lives.
When it comes to the military certain things are automatically expected of a person. One of the most important expectations is time management and being on time. Every day there are any number of places a soldier is required to be at a certain time and as the old saying goes, “if you’re not fifteen minutes early, you’re late no matter the situation.” Some soldiers understand the importance of showing up fifteen minutes prior to an event or scheduled activity. To others, it makes no sense at all. Extreme as it may sound, when dealing with the number of people that
Accountability by definition means the quality or state of being accountable; especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one 's actions. Accountability stems from late Latin accomptare (to account), a prefixed form of computare (to calculate), which in turn derived from putare (to reckon). While the word itself does not appear in English until its use in 13th century Norman England, the concept of account-giving has ancient roots in record keeping activities related to governance and money-lending systems that first developed in Ancient Egypt, Israel, Babylon, Greece, and later, Rome. In the United States Marine Corps it is very important to hold yourself accountable for all actions especially true the longer you are in. To myself it refers to the obligation of an individual to report formally to his superiors for the proper discharge of his responsibility. It is the answer ability of a subordinate to render an account of his activities to his superior. The person who accepts responsibility is accountable for the performance of the assigned duties. As such being late to work is a direct violation of accountability. Forgetting ones required materials for work may seem small and harmless but overall may develop into bigger issues if not dealt with accordingly.
The dictionary defines punctual as: Acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed; prompt. Under the rigid and disciplined structure of military life there is no margin for error. The slightest modicum of hesitation or procrastination can result in the tragic loss of innumerable lives. There are many circumstances where a failure to be prompt could have dire consequences. Under certain circumstances not arriving for guard duty at the designated time could allow a breach of security that could ultimately end in the brutal murder of your peacefully slumbering, unsuspecting battle buddies at the zealous hands of our insurgent foes. Choosing an example from a different segment of the spectrum of responsibility, we see how a noncommissioned
If a soldier is late for a formation he is in violation of Article 86 of the UCMJ, Failure to Report to Appointed Place of Duty. The supervisor must then counsel his soldier and attempt to correct this behavior. The supervisor has a lot of latitude to decide how to punish this soldier. He can make the soldier report 30 minutes prior to the first formation for the day for five consecutive days. This would typically have him reporting at 0600 hours rather than 0630 hours. He could have him report to the Staff Duty NCO every 4 hours through the night for a specified number of days. This would take away the soldier 's time creating an unpleasent situation for that soldier.
One of the most Important self disciplines the US military stresses is timeliness. In order to meet hard times and avoid unwanted corrective training, a soldier must develop a sense of time management. Punishment for failing to meet designated hard times can range from corrective training, such as writing a paper, or harsher punishment, such as article 15s, for more serious offenses, like missing movement. In order to properly manage one's time a system and routine must be devised based upon expected time requirements, such as the time it takes to get to and from point A to B, and extra time must be allotted to allow for unexpected time sinks, or obstacles with a potential for a variance in time consumption, such as construction, or the security gates when entering post. After deciding upon a
You let your co-workers/battle buddies down when you do not show up on time to work. When you fail to show up on time you are causing your peers to have to do your work as well as their own. This can cause the mission for the day to be slowed down dramatically. When the mission is slowed down this can cause your leaders to fail at meeting deadlines that may be needed to be met at a specific time in order to meet other deadlines. Showing up late can not only hurt you but it can also hurt your co-workers. People are forced to wait on you and slow down the work day. Having your battle buddies on your side is a very important thing. These are people that you have to be able to depend on no matter what. If you cant depend on someone to be on time for work, it will be extremely hard to depend on them for other things as