Military Order and Discipline

Why is it important to have good order and discipline in the army? Well there is a couple reasons why both in garrison or even foreign countries fighting wars. It all boils down to what good order and discipline really is though. For example stuff that’s as simple as moving military vehicles, or going to a range to qualify with your M4/M16. You can also use order and discipline when doing little things like doing details, or even in combat.

What is good order? Order is really simple but it’s also overlooked a lot of the times. Good order is being able to control your troops. For example in Basic Combat Training the Drill Sergeants maintain order within ranks by shaking up the new trainees by getting in their faces and screaming or making them do exercises. Drill Sergeants know how to keep order and turn new private’s into the lethal fighting force the world knows today. They do this to ensure that the army always has troops ready to deploy engage and destroy the enemies of the United States no matter when and where even if they are domestic enemy’s. Another example of good order is when a Platoon Sergeant or Platoon Leader hands down a task to the Non-commissioned officer, like moving trucks, sweeping the motor pool, or even taking out the garbage and the Non- commissioned officer grabs 2 soldiers for the task at hand and tells them to move the trucks over to the maintenance bay to get looked at and a new crane cable connected.

What is discipline? Well discipline has multiple meanings. Like discipline can be not cheating while in a relationship. What does discipline have to due with the military? Well when working at a job you have people appointed over you to make sure the work that needs to be done gets done. Like for instance when you’re tasked out to do a funeral you must have good discipline or else you could seem disrespectful to the deceased veterans family. Discipline just doesn’t apply to funerals either it applies to everyday things we do in the army no matter how big or small it could be as little as saying sergeant at the end of a sentence when talking to a non- commissioned officer, or standing at parade rest when either being addressed or addressing a non-commissioned officer. You also have discipline in the army by showing up to work on time or putting the gear we need to bring for the day. It also has another meaning as well though. Discipline also comes into play when shooting a rifle because you have to be well disciplined and focused when shooting a target to make sure you get a good hit on the target.

How can you use discipline and other in a garrison environment? You can use order and discipline in a garrison environment in multiple different ways. Like when doing details such as the wash rack without order in the wash rack everyone wouldn’t know what to do and the vehicles wouldn’t get cleaned and that would make everyone stay longer away from their families and would lower moral of the unit as a whole. Discipline is also important in the wash rack because if a soldier just messes around and doesn’t do their job that makes the other soldiers have to pick up that soldiers slack and that will hinder the details performance making them get of a lot later and taking away from the units man power thus making everyone in the battery stay longer because the things that needed to be done harder to complete. Discipline is also important when doing preventative maintenance checks and services(PMCS) because if a soldier lacks discipline when taking care of a vehicle that could hinder the units fighting capacity. For instance if a soldier is doing preventative maintenance on a heavy mobility tactical truck and doesn’t do it correctly and misses the fact the crane is spraying hydraulic fluid and they go out to the field with live rounds they won’t be able to drop their pods because of the vehicle leaking hydraulic fluid thus making it impossible for the launchers to shoot which makes the launcher crew not be able to quality which hinders fighting capabilities of the whole brigade. Another way that order is important while in a garrison environment is when a soldier isn’t made aware of a change put out by his chain of command that soldier could end up getting in trouble for showing up late or showing up with the wrong equipment thus making the soldier go back and grab the gear necessary to do the job at hand which wastes time for not only the soldier but also everyone around him. If a soldier is lacking discipline it could also hinder him legally like if a soldier talks to a soldier of the opposite sex that soldier could get SHARPed or EOed for saying or doing something that could be taken as offensive like if a male or female soldier cat calls the other soldier that soldier could get offended and get him or her for sexual harassment in the workplace. Thus taking away from the units manpower which in return makes the United States Army a less lethal fighting force.

How can order and discipline be used while deployed or stationed overseas? Well it’s used in multiple ways. Like order is required for joint military operations. For instance take into account that when we are overseas we do combat exercises in case we get attacked or we get the order to attack we can without fail. A command sergeant major has to have good order over his troops or they will be unfit to fight and be undisciplined and untrained. Thus making our fighting power significantly lower making us a less of a threat. There is also another way it can apply in combat for example say the unit is engaged in direct fire from the south the soldiers might be shaken or not wanting to fight back because of fear, but it takes good order from a commanding officer or non commissioned officer to make sure everyone gets out of the situation without any harm.

There is multiple reasons is it important to have good order and discipline in the army. It all boils down to what good order and discipline really is though. Just a couple examples that was talked about in this essay are stuff that’s as simple as moving military vehicles, or going to a range to qualify with your M4/M16. You can also use order and discipline when doing little things like doing details, or even in combat, but that’s just the tip when it comes to why it is important in the army.

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