Preview

Accountability and Responsibility in the Army

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1497 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Accountability and Responsibility in the Army
As I have learned over the past seven years that I have been in the Army is that accountability and responsibility are the two most important things that the organization focuses on. In this essay, I will be discussing the importance of accountability and the responsibilities as a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). Accountability is concerned primarily with records, while responsibility is concerned primarily with custody, care, and safekeeping.

Accountability is defined as, the obligation imposed by law or lawful order or regulation on an officer or other person for keeping accurate record of property, documents, or funds. The person having this obligation may or may not have actual possession of the property, documents, or funds. Though I am aware of the different types of accountability in my case, I failed to ensure one of the most important, which is personal accountability. One of the values in the United States Army, that most seek in soldiers is accountability. Accountability (in this case) means that you can be relied upon to arrive to work and appointments on time, meet deadlines, be in the right place at the right time, and do what needs to be done to complete the mission at hand. Failing to be accounted imposes actions to be taken not only upon yourself but on your chain of command as well. As a NCO, I know that I must lead from the front and set an example for the junior enlisted soldiers as well as my peers, and subordinates. I knew that once I raised my right hand and recited the oath, I became accountable not only for myself but for my fellow comrades as well and I learned that it begins with self. If I can 't fully account for myself how can or why should I expect to be held accountable for a soldier, squad or platoon.

As a non-commissioned officer, I know that my unit, immediate leaders and the army expects me to be accountable. I must ensure that I follow the regulation (s) in the event that I may be out of work by:

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the military there are set standards, most of which are pretty simply accomplished. All soldiers are expected to meet these standards on a daily basis, as being in the Army is a 24 hours a day, 7 days week job. One of these standards that holds great importance is accountability, as well as being on time. Failure to meet these standards can and will result in some quite extensively negative consequences.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Could you imagine the Marine corp where Marines were not held accountable for their actions? Where Marines could do whatever they wanted and not have to face the repercussions. I think its safe to say that the Marine Corp would be pretty chaotic. Marines have to be held accountable for their actions, It ensures mission completion, a high quality of work, and it makes you a better overall marine. With out accountability the quality of the Marine Corp would drastically decrease.…

    • 669 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This one thousand word essay that I am writing today is to explain what the importance of accountability formation is. Accountability formation is held every duty day to ensure the safty and well being of all personell within the company or battalion. Accountability starts, at most times, at 0630 hrs for physical training. During this time the First Sgt accounts for the safty and well being of his NCOs who in turn account for the safty and well being of their soldiers. If a soldiers or NCO does not arrive for 0630 formation then every attempt must be made to conntact the missing soldier or NCO.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Soldiers must be and act responsibly in every situation they may find themselves in, whether it’s in or out of uniform. Responsibility increases when soldiers believe that they have personal control over their mission performance, performing out of desire to do well instead of just following orders. There have been many studies that have suggested that when a Soldier feels that they have personal control over work performance the result is that the Soldier has a better task performance, better problem solving, and a higher persistence in accomplishing the task, more positive emotions and even better psychological and physical health. Responsibility and accountability are two of the main factors in being a successful Soldier in today’s U.S. Army. You must be a responsible soldier if you want to make it through deployment alive. Or even worse, if you fail to be responsible you could…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Accountability in the army is important because soldiers as well as equipment, ammunition, food, water and other various supplies are vital to the operation and proper function of the army as a whole. To start with, soldiers must be accounted for because they are the responsibility of their team leader, squad leader, platoon sergeant, and so on. If you don't have accountability of soldiers then when you attempt to conduct a mission you may not have all the soldiers you should have and that could cost you not only failing your mission but your life and the lives of the soldiers with you. Having accountability of each and every soldier at all times lets the leadership know how many soldiers they can spare for various details and still continue with the mission at hand. Another thing that is very important to keep accountability on is equipment. If your soldiers don't have the equipment they need or the equipment they were issued then it could cause a major problem in the mission possibly causing you to fail the mission and lose lives of your soldiers for not having proper equipment. Not only is accountability of equipment highly important but making sure all the equipment works how it is designed and intended to be used. Accountability of ammunition is important as well, if you are on a mission and not all of your soldiers have ammunition then it could cost the mission and lives. Keeping accountability of your soldiers, your soldiers equipment status, and ammunition status are very important to completing a mission successfully without any problems. Also keeping track of soldiers equipment as well as ammunition can help save the army funds to put to better use to help soldiers with retirement, their benefits, various programs and classes. Another thing in the army to keep accountability on is food, it is the most important thing to accomplishing a mission successfully. If a soldier hasn't been able to eat for days because leaderships lack of accountability of food it…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    example of being accountable.Accountability is important not only to the military but to me as…

    • 1086 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Army Accountability 2

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Department of Defense realizes that one needs to be responsible before one can be held accountable for anything. This realization leads me to believe that responsibility is not only something that is expected of soldiers, but instead demanded at the lowest level to ensure unit cohesion (Whether it be team, squad, platoon, company, battalion, brigade or division level), unity, and order amongst troops at all echelons of our spartan society.…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    EXAM 1

    • 926 Words
    • 3 Pages

    2 HOW CAN SOLDIERS INCREASE THEIR CHANCES OF BEING MENTIED? ACTIVELY SEEKING PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK; ADOPTING AN ATTITUDE OF LIFELONG LEARNING…

    • 926 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why is accountability important to the Army? Accountability is a very important part of an enlisted and a Non-commissioned Officer's (NCO) job. The enlisted soldier is responsible for all items issued to him or her such as a weapon, Night Vision Goggles (NVG’s), clothing, a vehicle, a field manual (FM), medication, or Basic Initial Issue (BII). The NCO's responsibility is to make sure that the soldier is accountable for such items and can retrieve those items when needed, so that he can report it to his higher command. Accountability also includes the most important piece of equipment the soldier him or herself. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong especially in combat, that is why the soldier should make sure the team leader or squad leader knows where his or her equipment is at all times. The Army spends a lot of money on equipment and other personal effects for soldiers, so the Army expects soldiers to know where their equipment is located. Layouts performed periodically throughout each year take accountability of property assigned to both units, companies and to each soldier. The hand receipts for these issued items goes to the highest officer to the lowest enlisted personal in the chain-of-command and back up again. An NCO may spontaneously ask a soldier to produce an Army issued item in order to test the soldier’s ability to locate that item in a timely manner. On the battlefield, every moment counts, and efficiency aids in the…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nco Charge

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I neglected one of the key ties bringing both the NCO Charge and the NCO Creed together. The charge, "I am charged at all times with presenting an image of competency, integrity, and pride - The image of a Professional NCO," is very similar to the last paragraph of the NCO Creed. Both highlight professionalism which I directly link to personal honor. My honor is damaged beyond repair but more importantly, I have damaged the honor of thousands of people whom I have never met and that do not deserve to be treated as I have treated them.…

    • 500 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why is accountability important to the Army? Accountability is a very important part of an enlisted and a NCO's job. The enlisted soldier is responsible for all items issued to issued to him weather it be a weapon, NVG's, clothes, a vehicle, or some TA-50, a feild manual, medication (morphine, demoral, or any narcotics), BII, etc. The NCO's responsibility is to make sure that the soldier is accountable for the items and has eyes on these items when need, so that he can report it to his higher command. Accountability also includes the most important piece of equipment the soldier him or herself. Anything can and will happen especially in combat, that's why the team member should make sure that the team or squad leader know where the soldier and his or her equipment is at all times. The Army spends a lot of money on equipment and belongings for the soldiers, so the Army expects to know where its equipment is. No matter what someone is always responsible for equipment in the Army. It goes to the highest officer to the lowest enlisted personal in the chain of command and back up again. Like in combat when there is a "code Red" the soldier knows that at a given and safe time he or she should get to the rally point, predestined by his or her chain of command, that way he or she and his or her equipment can be accounted for. Accountability is used in many different ways, for example knowing if something is missing you could easy look at the accountability report to see if it was there before. If someone stole something or a piece of…

    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Accountability is an Army and nationwide thing from the highest officer, to the lowest enlisted soldier. If something bad happens and you’re not able to get into contact with one of your soldiers their life, and also your life can be at stake. Deploying overseas is an even bigger thing. You should always be accounted for while you’re overseas, and have a battle buddy. A lot of soldiers now, here, don’t like the fact or thought of a battle buddy, but we train how we fight, and when we deploy that battle buddy might be the one who save your life.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Accountability in Army

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Throughout a Soldier’s training and career the Soldier’s Creed is the core value set that soldiers’ are expected to learn and live by. These are the values that a soldier is held accountable to. A soldier can thrive and fail in these values, but one thing is for sure, they will be held accountable. Most of these values are easy to understand and all make logical sense that a soldier should possess these values. The one value that many soldier’s struggle with is the accountability in “I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.” When a soldier fails to maintain these values they are held accountable. Which leads to a few questions: What is accountability? How does accountability pertain to the United States Army? What does all this mean to the value stated in the Soldier’s Creed, “I always maintain my arms, my equipment, and myself.” How does all this apply to an individual soldier? And a personal note, on how accountability plays a role in my career as a United States Soldier.…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    As an opening I will be giving a short summary on the different responsibilities a soldier has and what I will be covering in this essay. The Army itself is a large responsibility that every soldier has. As I’m often told it’s the little stuff that really matter because all the little things amount to bigger things. Each and every soldier is responsible for their appearance, being on time, physical fitness and a good deal of other thing that form their responsibilities. It’s all these little things that help make up a good soldier. A single soldier can make a big impact on other soldiers around him. This impact can be for better or for worse depending on how the soldier presents himself. No one wants to see a bunch of raged bums in the army. Being in the right uniform, at the right place, at the right time shows a basic level of self discipline and motivation. As other soldiers take notice of someone doing these things it can help motivate them to further improve on themselves. However there is an opposite side to this. If a soldier is always late, in dirty or messed up uniform, or not at the right place it can influence others in a negative way. It can cause others to not to care as much about their responsibilities and loss of motivation. It is the soldiers’ responsibility to follow the guidelines set down by the Army regulations, NCOs, and officers appointed over them. During the course of this essay I will be going on a in depth explanation of the guidelines covering appearance, importance of rank structure, punctuality, and discipline.…

    • 10151 Words
    • 41 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay for Being Late.

    • 1805 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The main reason for this essay is because I did not follow out proper orders and was not at the correct place of duty for PT/Accountability formation at the correct time. Although there was a miscommunication, granted on my half, there is still no excuse for me to miss a formation. I want to be an excellent soldier and I want to excel in the military. The first step I need to put into action is always making sure I am at the appropriate place of duty at the correct time or preferably with time to spare. This is a simple task that is easy and painless to ensure, and it will be accomplished.…

    • 1805 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays