Why Is It Important To Be On Time Essay

One truth, is that in military service, it is always important to be on time and at the right place, and never late. Different organizations have different definitions of ‘on time’. Prior to coming to Bravo three-thirteen, my last unit was happy with everyone being five minutes early to any formation. It took me a while to adjust to Bravo three-thirteen, because at Fort Sill they defined being exactly ten minutes early as late. Since the unit deployed to Camp Bucca, Iraq, the unit as a whole has been at times a lot more easy going, most of the time. I remember once, I was running behind due to not being able to find my car keys or identification card or something, and wound up arriving about one minute before the formation was called. My section chief at the time was angry at me and my platoon sergeant was embarrassed because he had been thinking I was going to miss formation and the First Sergeant knew not everybody was in ranks at the time. I have almost always strived to make my immediate superiors look good, whenever it has been possible and felt badly for letting them down that time. Another truth about the military, is that often when a particular group has a good thing going (for example, not having to waste 30 minutes standing around waiting for a formation to start twice a day, or working three and one schedule instead of a six and
one, or people being able to take a four day ‘Bucca pass‘ instead of going to Qatar), it often only takes one individual to wreck the situation for everybody involved. I know I would hate to be the one person to be responsible for taking up more of our precious free time than is already taken, since we work twelve hour days, minus formation time, minus time to get food before or after work, and oh yeah a lot of people like to do physical training from time to time.

These are all good reasons to be punctual. The dictionary defines Punctual as “acted, arrived, or performed exactly at the time appointed”. Being punctual makes you look good, because it makes your superiors think you want to be at work and are a good soldier. However, it really just boils down to doing the ‘right thing’. A soldier who is seen to be doing the right thing will always be perceived to be a better soldier than one who is often caught doing what he or she knows is not what he’s supposed to be doing. This is not to say that someone who is seen to be doing what’s right is always doing it. I have personally known people who would make a show of appearing to speak and do the right thing when their superiors are around to see, and then do whatever they want when nobody important is around to see.

Prevention: “an action or actions taken to stop somebody from doing something or to stop something from happening“.
I have learned that it is always a good idea to be careful before an appointment time is coming up. Sometimes it is possible to accidentally fall asleep if you are not paying attention. Just like during a class or a guard shift, if you’re feeling sleepy before you have to be somewhere, do something active like standing up or going for a walk to stay awake. If you feel that you have time for a short nap before an appointment be sure to set an alarm or have somebody nearby wake you up when it’s time to
go.

In addition to time, it is also important to be at the appointed place of duty. I can think of several occasions when I received bad information of where a formation was going to be held and had to make a case for why I wasn’t there. It is a pain in the ass showing up at the wrong place and not seeing everybody where you expected them to be, and nobody will answer their cell phone, because they’re starting formation, to tell you where the hell you’re supposed to be.

Solutions/prevention
Alarm

Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time. President Theodore Roosevelt

"Better three hours too soon than a minute too late." - William
Shakespeare

Military discipline and effectiveness is built on the foundation of obedience to orders.

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