The Importance of Being at Your Duty on Time

The Importance of Being On Time At Your Place of Duty There are many important reasons that a soldier needs to be at his or her appointed place of duty on time. Being at your appointed place of duty on time is important because your leadership is held accountable for you and your absence. If you feel that you are going to be late you should contact your chain of command and let them know of your tardiness immediately. If you are not at your place of duty then you should expect your chain of command to be calling you or coming to your house. If a soldier does not show up to his/her appointed place of duty it can affect unit cohesion and mission completion. When I talk about unit cohesion, I am referring to the collective efforts of the group. A unit generally shares a common goal and should be motivated to coordinate their efforts as a team to achieve that goal. Now, if you have a soldier that does not show up to help complete that goal, that soldier has not only placed more work on his/her unit members, but has effectively let his or her unit down. This can cause a multitude of problems that may affect the overall completion of a mission. The Army is all about putting the mission first. Failure to be at your appointed place of duty can also result in an Article 86 Absent without leave. First of all, if you are unable to report to your duty station you should try to get a note or some kind of legitament proof of why you were not at your duty station. Don't lie to your chain of command about where you were or why you were not at your appointed place of duty because your integrity will lessen with each and every lie. Also make sure that you always have a call roster with all of your chain of command's phone numbers in case you need to notify them of your absence. When you call your chain of command to let them know you will not be at your place of duty they will appreciate your effort and will not be left wondering where you are and what you are doing,