Plot hole: When the radar man of the USS Cayuga describes a radar reading to likely be "One of the Russian cruisers", the commanding officer of the USS decides not to pursue it saying, "We are after bigger fish today - I want the Vasilyev". In the film, the Vasilyev is depicted as a destroyer, which is a smaller and lighter ship than a cruiser. In this context, the cruiser would be a "bigger fish" than the Vasilyev and the CO should pursue it instead if he was after the larger, more dangerous vessels as he seems to declare.
Factual error: In the intro before the title, the bridge of the Cayuga is shown, intercut with photos of another ship supposedly about to run into her. We see the starboard side of a vessel and later a blurry long-shot of a ship approaching. In both shots, the running lights are the wrong way around. The starboard light should be green and the port light red but the first shot shows the starboard light as red and both left and right wrong in the shot of the oncoming ship. (00:00:52 - 00:01:50)
Answer: Officially, the individual has been ordered to attend, failing to could be interpreted as either, Failure to follow orders, dereliction of duty, going AWOL, or even desertion. It would depend on the underlying reason as to why the person doesn't appear.