Why Is Accountability So Important?
Accountability, one of the many key factors in why the US military shows a level of success and discipline. Before a soldier graduates basic training, he/she is taught the importance of accountability and why it’s so crucial. The reason why is because it trains a soldier to be on time, establish discipline and a way to monitor soldiers. Soldiers oftentimes required to perform extremely challenging duties and services. Without accountability, a soldier cannot be expected to meet these high demands and expectations.
Being accountable means being in the right place at the right time and being in the proper duty uniform.
To be on time the individual must demonstrate ethical responsibility (by keeping current time and making sure to be present by that predetermined time), physical responsibility (by making sure his/her uniform is clean and presentable, and the individual is in the correct uniform for the event, and lastly by showing accountability to his superiors by informing them of his current location before such an event, and to contact them if anything occurs that will delay his arrival to the event.
This also works in reverse, as his superiors are equally required as well to demonstrate these qualities. Accountability is a life skill and an Individual skill that every person should be reconsidering to practice this daily.
For example, let’s say that you do not come back to formation after you go out on a convoy. By then whoever is in charge knows that you are missing and your whereabouts are unknown.
If you do not show up and you do not respond or notify anyone, there is going to be a search team for you. If they do send a search team, that puts the entire team at risk while looking for you. The point of accountability formation is to make sure all soldiers are there and that they are all accounted for. If one person is not accounted for then the entire formation does not leave. It is not just the fact that everyone is accounted for, it is part of your military duty to be at the formation and at the movement. Communication is the heart of what makes the United States Army what it is today. Without communication, vital information would not be passed down from the Chief of Command to a chain of Non-Commissioned Officers to the soldiers. Not to mention, innocent lives would be in jeopardy, missions would be misinterpreted, and simple information from NCO to soldier would be conflicted.
The smallest amount of information is always imperative. For example, if a soldier goes out over the weekend and doesn’t inform anyone of he or her whereabouts and something crucial happens to him or her no one would never know because that soldier failed to communicate with his/her battle buddy more importantly their NCO. When others know about one’s location it is easier to maneuver to find them if anything should ever go wrong.No one wants to become a victim if something should ever go not according to plan; and that’s why it is critical to notify someone whenever going out.
Communication in a military organization is a mandatory thing, especially in war. With the effective communication of a war that can be planned and executed successfully. Therefore, it is important to all members of the organization to create an effective communication system that connects to each other either at the top and lower levels of command. I believe good communication is the key to a good relationship. If we communicate well with the people in our lives, we are able to better understand what the people around us want, need, expect of us, and what they are able to do and likewise. This includes not just the people we live with, but our co-workers
Accountability does not end in the army life it also goes into the civilian world. When you have a job in the civilian world they are looking for someone that can be on time and do the job, but the second that you are not on time your accountability starts to go down the drain. The army values soldiers that are accountable for their actions. Being accountable means being dependable-arriving to work and appointments on time, meeting deadlines, being in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing at the right time. Morning formation is one of the most important formations of the day. It is made to get accountability for everyone and put out any information that needs to be dealt with.
Without having accountability there is no knowing of where everybody is or what’s going on. Knowing the severity of this many soldiers have realized that is an important asset, always showing up on time at the right place of duty. Not only does accountability matter in formation it is also imperative to have the accountability of all your weapons and sensitive items. Accountability is not only for keeping track of other people it can also be for keeping track of money, gear, legal documents, and many other things. The reason you would want to keep track of money is so if there is ever a time where a lot of money goes missing, you would be able to look at the accounts transactions.
One of the many ways you can help improve accountability is to have every person’s phone number. The buddy system is a good way to find out where someone would be. The whole reason for having accountability is so we get to work on time, so we stay safe and if we were to get into trouble someone could come to get us. It is also helpful to have a cell phone so you can always be reached. When you are accountable for doing something you need to do whatever you are accountable for. If you always have a hundred percent accountability you will never have any problems like wondering where someone is or like wondering why something missing.
