Personal Accountability

PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY Being accountable for yourself is important due to the fact that if you do not know where you are supposed to be, you won’t be able to perform your job and perform it well. In the military you are only required to do three things; be at the right place, be there at the right time, and be in the right uniform. But as a military Police officer, you are also required one more thing to do, which is, check the DA Form 6 every day for changes.If you don’t check the DA Form 6, you won’t just be in the wrong place, you will also letting those around you down while you are late and having them wait on you. Also being accountable for yourself and letting others know where you are is important because if no body knows where you are and you get hurt or lost then it falls on your leadership that they aren’t doing their job. And you will be considered AWOL (absent with out leave) under article 86 in the UCMJ. Making changes on the DA Form 6 are n ot made on the lower level, but the higher chain of command can approve it.You will be in the wrong if you jump the chain of command, so that is when you let your team leader know so they can push it up. If you are unsure if your team leader pushed it up, or if the change had ever gotten approved, check multiple times until you are satisfied that the top is tracking the change. When the chain of command is unaware of the changes, it falls on the soldiers that wanted to make the change. And if no one is tracking it, and you conduct the change, then that is a direct violation of a direct order and can have UCMJ consequences.If one issue is that you cannot do it yourself, you can always ask your peers for help. There is no shame in accepting help from others who are willing to help. When you constantly show up late and are not at the appointed place of duty, you build yourself a negative legacy. People will eventually start seeing you as incompetent and that you won’t be able to perform any tasks you are given. In turn it could lower your moral and lower the moral of your peers.The trust of you being able to conduct your job is vital in the military and for the unity of the unit. Ways on helping with being accountable for youself are; checking and rechecking, showing up on time, not bein too afraid to ask for help. Writing down your schedule is another way to help. But the military isn’t for some people and its not easy to adapt with the lifestyle and the way of living that comes with the burden of being a soldier. So take this as my way of letting you know that you can go ahead and process the chapter paperwork.