Timeliness is important in all aspects of life. In the army they say “10 minutes prior is on time, and being on time is late”, that is the standard set forth and expected to be accomplished by the armed forces. By oversleeping I not only failed to meet the standard, I also failed my squad and my platoon because they did not have accountability of everyone, another main standard of the army. I also took the time of my team leader, who had to sit and wait for me while everyone else did PT. Missing movement not only cost me more time in the end, it cost the whole rest of the unit in one way or another. Timeliness is also the first step in a soldiers’ task to keep accountability at all times. Accountability is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as being required to explain actions or decisions to someone. Another definition is being required to be responsible for something. As soldiers, we are always expected to be able to explain our actions to our chain of command, and to take responsibility for them. Inability to do so can lead to loss of time and resources, adverse action, UCMJ action, or even separation from the armed forces.
In a strategic environment, timeliness is important in everything we do. Everyday soldiers in the unit work in fast-paced intelligence environments and being even a few minutes late in a mission situation could cost valuable intelligence or even lives. Even routine reports must be sent out on a strict timeframe, and failure to meet that standard could cause it to lose value, or cause a setback in a mission elsewhere. Being military intelligence soldiers, we are also required to attend training; whether it be language, technical, or unit trainings. Failing to report to classes on time could not only cause a soldier to miss important coursework, but could potentially result in the soldier getting dropped from the class. This not only hurts the soldiers’ advancement as an intelligence professional, it causes degradation of the