Responsibility and Accountability
PV2 Anderson
A soldier is comprised of many different elements. There is something about a soldier that places him or her in a position of leadership and respect higher than that of a civilian. This is not to discredit the value of civilians, but to identify the rare combination of qualities it takes to be the guardians of freedom, our home, and everything we believe to be right. Some of the elements of an American soldier are cited in the Warrior Ethos and the Seven Army Values, but there are two very important principles that a soldier abides by not mentioned in the creed or on an extra dog tag: responsibility and accountability.
There are two definitions of responsibility that majorly apply to a soldier: (1) a duty or task that you are required or expected to do. (2) Something that you should do because it is morally right, legally required. A soldier is a responsible for a seemingly countless number of things. The warriors of this nation carry a heavy mind around under that ACH; there are a million things to keep track of. Not only must a soldier be knowledgeable in the location of his or her gear at ALL times, but he or she must also be responsible for the wellbeing of battle buddies, the cleanliness of every area occupied by the unit, the punctuality to formations, being completely briefed on the mission, etc., the amount of things is longer than Santa’s naughty list.
Personal accountability and responsibility go hand in hand. Responsibility is the prethought.
Before making decisions a soldier should go through a mental assessment asking him or herself if their actions are those of an honest, rolemodel citizen. For the few times the wrong decision is made accountability comes into play, accepting the consequences of a bad decision and learning from them. So why does the U.S. army screen its citizens and pick only the very best of the best when they could just have a massive army like other similarly sized nations? Because the U.S.
A soldier is comprised of many different elements. There is something about a soldier that places him or her in a position of leadership and respect higher than that of a civilian. This is not to discredit the value of civilians, but to identify the rare combination of qualities it takes to be the guardians of freedom, our home, and everything we believe to be right. Some of the elements of an American soldier are cited in the Warrior Ethos and the Seven Army Values, but there are two very important principles that a soldier abides by not mentioned in the creed or on an extra dog tag: responsibility and accountability.
There are two definitions of responsibility that majorly apply to a soldier: (1) a duty or task that you are required or expected to do. (2) Something that you should do because it is morally right, legally required. A soldier is a responsible for a seemingly countless number of things. The warriors of this nation carry a heavy mind around under that ACH; there are a million things to keep track of. Not only must a soldier be knowledgeable in the location of his or her gear at ALL times, but he or she must also be responsible for the wellbeing of battle buddies, the cleanliness of every area occupied by the unit, the punctuality to formations, being completely briefed on the mission, etc., the amount of things is longer than Santa’s naughty list.
Personal accountability and responsibility go hand in hand. Responsibility is the prethought.
Before making decisions a soldier should go through a mental assessment asking him or herself if their actions are those of an honest, rolemodel citizen. For the few times the wrong decision is made accountability comes into play, accepting the consequences of a bad decision and learning from them. So why does the U.S. army screen its citizens and pick only the very best of the best when they could just have a massive army like other similarly sized nations? Because the U.S.