Deriliction of Duty

Dereliction of Duty

Raymond Muhamed

The textbook definition of ‘dereliction of duty’ simply means abandonment of one’s occupation. As a Marine I am obligated to carry out all duties/tasks I have been assigned. This includes simple cleaning tasks, as well as standing duty at the barracks. I have been assigned to write this essay because of my failure to stay awake at work, which is an excellent example of dereliction of duty. In this essay I will explain why this is a dangerous thing to do.

First off, the Corps wouldn’t be what it is with Marines doing whatever they want. There would be no discipline, therefore nothing would get done. America probably wouldn’t even exist because our government would’ve burned down a long time ago. In this particular case, our shop would cease to function as a whole. Orders would be given, and nobody would respond with the correct response. Imagine someone testing something on the GRMATS and falling asleep. There’s potential for someone walking off with CCI, which would cause the government endless amounts of money with some long draught-out investigation. That is not what we want. There are countless different situations that could harbor negative consequences. Say I were gate guard and I fell asleep on post. Anybody could get on base and potentially get access to things that could compromise national security.

There are many other circumstances where abandoning one’s assigned tasks could lead to dire situations. Imagine that somebody forgot to monitor the lighthouse bulb life. Eventually the bulb would go out and any ship getting close to the shore would be in danger. Imagine what would happen if the air traffic controlman fell asleep. The planes wouldn’t get weather reports and the runway wouldn't have lights. Three planes could try to land all at once and there would be tons of wreckage.

I guess what i’m trying to say is that if someone takes on the responsibility of a job/task they should follow through with it. It isn’t hard to just do what you are told. That is what makes the military simple, regardless of how much extra bullshit is accompanied with it. The world would not have any of its great leaders if they gave up when things got difficult. The world would not be what it is today. If all African American people gave up the fight to end slavery my life would be much worse than it is right now. For that I am thankful. I feel it is my duty to take advantage of the opportunity