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The United States Military has often been described as a highly-complex and interwoven

series of commands, both issued and carried out.  Machines as complex as our organization, the
US Army, have a lot of moving parts.  If any of these gears fails to perform as they have been
designated and entrusted to, the machine begins to break down. 
Punctuality and accountability are two major ways the Army in general and the 6th
Engineer Battalion in particular, keep those parts moving smoothly and effectively. Without
either, the entire system would quickly fall apart, leading to any number of complications that
would hinder the unit’s ability to meet its goals quickly, effectively and efficiently. With this
essay, I will explain the importance of timeliness as it relates to the military, as well as describe
the problems that would come from ignoring it.
Soldiers of every rank and specialty have many responsibilities, and many others depend
on their actions being carried out successfully.  If a soldier does not follow extremely important,
life-or-death orders, this will result in extremely unfortunate, life-or-death consequences. 
However, failure to obey small, seemingly simple directions, such as keeping an appointment,
can also turn into an unpredictable mess.
Military readiness and the 21st century Army can be defined by its own organizational
ability to project firepower and defend and preserve life. Punctuality and accountability directly
contribute to this mission by ensuring that every gear in the war machine is exactly where it
needs to be in relation to every other part and piece, in order to achieve total victory. If a single
unit is not where the battle plan needs it to be, the result could be a variety of scenarios. Time
and resources could be wasted as that unit is redirected and redeployed to its proper place.
Enemies could take advantage of the hole in our plan, and escape fire. Lives could be lost,
wasted, while the missing unit is incapable of providing support for their brothers and sisters.
The old cliché states that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Clichés become
clichés because their simple truths withstand the test of time, proving themselves over and over.
It is an indisputable fact of war that if the battle plan is not strictly adhered to, the results
immediately and forever after become unpredictable. “Unpredictable Results” is not a term that
should ever be associated with any military unit. Especially not the 6th Engineer Battalion, which
so closely relies on precisely-executed timetables and resource management.
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “punctual” as “arriving or doing something at the
expected or planned time.” When an appointment is made, whether medical, financial or other,
an organization is setting aside time to see to an individual soldier’s needs. When that
appointment is then not kept, when that soldier is arrive at the planned time, then that resource,
time, is lost. When a resource is wasted, be it, food, water, electricity or time, productivity is
lost. We become slower. We become weaker. We fail.
The word “accountable” is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “required to explain
actions or decisions to someone.” Another definition is “required to be responsible for
something.” Both say roughly the same thing when applied to the current situation: as soldiers,
we are always expected to be able to explain our actions to our superiors, and to proudly take
responsibility for them. We are given many responsibilities, some of them stated, but many
simply implied. Regardless, when we fail to meet our obligations, we fail the unit and ourselves.
We hurt the unit, which is less productive as a result. We hurt ourselves, as our reputations are
damaged and our privileges and responsibilities are reevaluated in context of our now seemingly-
diminished capability.
Loss of resources is never a good thing. That goes double for the military, as our strength
is often completely dependent on what tools, supplies and time we have available to us. In our
profession, this loss of resources often stems from the inability to follow orders, such as being at
the proper place at the proper time in the proper uniform. Following orders is a soldier's job. The
soldier is not required or expected to understand the reasoning behind said order, nor is the
soldier to follow only the orders that are deemed to be important or seem to apply to the mission
at hand.  It is widely understood that a leader will never have enough hours in the day to
accomplish everything needed.  Therefore, it should also be understood that a leader may not
always have time to fully explain every order given, illustrating to every soldier why the order is
being given and what will happen if the order is not followed. A soldier is expected to do what
is asked of him, in order to preserve the effectiveness of the unit and, ultimately, to achieve
victory.
It is common for a soldier to question the orders he is given. As long as this questioning
is done in his own mind only, and while carrying out those others regardless of his feelings about
them, there is nothing wrong with a little dissent. When a soldier misses an appointment, or
shows up late to a formation, he has failed to follow the orders he was given. This cannot be
allowed to become a habit, as the inability to follow orders drags the entire unit down and
prevents it from accomplishing the mission. The 6th Engineer Battalion is a machine. It has
gears like a machine. When one of those gears just decides not to come to work one day, or that
it doesn’t feel like showing up to an appointment on time like it was ordered and expected to do,
then the machine breaks down. If one gear doesn’t work properly, the machine doesn’t work
properly. Instead of completing the mission, it just explodes in an epic display of fireworks and
failure.
So, in order to keep the battalion on track and focused on achieving our objectives, it is
important that every soldier in the battalion is exactly where he or she is expected to be.
Anything less and we lose productivity and make it harder for ourselves in the future. Respect is
not given. It is earned. And if we want every other unit that we interact with, as well as civilian
contractors, to respect us and treat us the way we know we should be treated, then we have to
demand it. Not with words, but with actions. Like punctuality. And timeliness. Also,
awesomeness.

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