Where is 'Personal Responsibility'?

As soon as I read your question, I thought back to a conversation that I had with one of my Company CDRs when I was a 1SG.  We were talking after a Friday PT session and the weekly safety brief was complete.  He asked me what I thought about safety briefings.  Weren't they just a "check the block" since Soldiers are gonna do what Soldiers are gonna do? 

I told him that as leaders, we have a responsibility to talk to our Soldiers about making right decisions, making safe decisions, informing them of the repercussions of bad decisions and ensuring that they have all the tools necessary to make those right decisions (i.e. phone cards, taxi numbers, etc).  Once that is complete, those Soldiers will go home, get cleaned up and go out.  They will be armed with what we as leaders have supplied them with.  At that point, it is up to them to make the right decision.  If they do not, they are held accountable and responsible for their actions. 

He saw where I was coming from and more importantly, understood that by not providing Soldiers with the knowledge and tools to make the right decisions, we as leaders have failed.  If we provide that to Soldiers and they choose poorly, then they are held accountable for their actions.