Defining Military Discipline and Values

Defining Military Discipline and Values

Military Discipline is a state of order and obedience existing within a command. Self discipline in the military is where soldiers do the 4 rights without being told, even in the absence of the commander. Discipline is created within a unit by instilling a sense of confidence and responsibility in each individual. To strengthen discipline, senior leaders need to give praise to their subordinates, either individually or as a whole, for tasks done well. By doing this, it will accomplish every commanders goal of having a unit that functions well and builds a bond which binds together the team. Everything in life requires some sort of discipline. Whether it is hitting a baseball, learning to sew , playing a musical instrument, making good grades or brushing your teeth it all comes down to a matter of discipline.

The dictionary defines punctual as: Acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed, prompt. Under the rigid and disciplined structure of military life there is no margin for error. Procrastination or being late may cost lives on the battle field. There are many examples of where being late for something could cause dire consequences, such as showing up later than the appointed time for guard duty could cause a breech in security and cause a brutal massacre of the base. Being punctual also helps your leaders to know where you are at all times. If they do not know where you are they might not know you are sleeping in your bed and might think that you were in a car crash or even kidnapped by terrorists because you chose to display you name or rank at your house.

Loyalty is defined as a strong feeling of support or allegiance. I agree fully with this definition. Being loyal is one of the most important of the Army values. Being loyal is sticking up for someone or something even though it isn't the normal vernacular or behavior of society or even your social circle. An example is when a soldier is talking bad about an NCO and another soldier sticks up for the NCO not only because they can get into trouble for talking like that, but because it is the right thing to do. It helps build a unit and unites them and builds trust. Missing PT on Wednesday was a prime example of disloyalty. If I was punctual and made sure the alarm was set the night before, I wouldn't have let the team down. It showed the unit that I couldn't be trusted with the smallest of tasks, such as being on time. Had I been more disciplines, I would have been more aware of the fact that the alarm was not set.

Duty is the easiest to define. It is doing what you are supposed to do when you are supposed to do it. Simply, it is your job. As air traffic controllers, our first duty priority is to separate aircraft and issue safety alerts as required. If we neglected this priority, then we would lose tons of valuable lives. It was my duty to show up to PT on time. By deselecting this duty I let down my unit. Self discipline is the vital key to duty. If you don't have self discipline you won't know what right is, or you will know what it is but you won't have the discipline to do it. The 4 rights take a lot of discipline. It is our duty to accomplish the 4 rights: right time, right place, right uniform/ equipment, and right attitude. By missing PT, I failed to accomplish all 4 or the rights as I was told to do so.

Respect is an enormous trait in the military. Rank and grade don't require you to respect someone, it just means they have more experience and you have to listen to them. It takes hard work and discipline to earn and keep someone's trust and respect. When I am late, my leaders no longer trust that I will be on time for the next formation, class, or appointment. Being punctual is the easiest way to earn someone's trust and respect. When you are self disciplined enough to be on time it shows your leaders that you can be trusted and they will bestow more responsibility on you and will help you to be a better leader which will make them and your peers respect you more. Respect is one of those things where it takes a long time to earn but you can lose it in an instant and it takes even longer to get back the second time.

Selfless service is looking out for other people even if it won't benefit you. It is a service which is performed without any expectation of result or award for the person performing it. A great example was when I was out at the Atnavics for the second half of the day pulling guard, the rest of the company got to go home and my NCO came out to relieve me. Even though it was hot and I know he wanted to go home, he let me go home instead. I was being selfish by not being on time. I wasted my chain of commands time to have them call me and find out that I was still sleeping and to waist my battle buddies time waiting for my NCOs to call me. The more disciplined you are the more you realize that by helping