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Do you believe being assigned as a Rear Detachment 1SG (Diamond wearer) of a 200+ Soldier company is a positive assignment when being looked at for the SGM board? Receiving a stellar rating during the period of assignment.
Posted in these groups: 
1SG
1SG
Posted 12 y ago
Responses: 10
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I have been the Rear Detachment 1SG and I have to say it was one of the most difficult positions I've held even more than being a deployed Infantry 1SG as an Artilleryman. One of the challenges besides taken care of all the families and the issues they have and the Soldiers they leave behind (they are left back for a reason) is who's really your boss. The Command team down range are telling you to do one thing and the Command team left back are telling you to do another. It was truly a rewarding and learning experience and I think it made me a better leader
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SGM (Join to see)
Oh I know that feeling all too well. It is even worse when down range and back home collide. I agree though it definitely taught me a lot and how to better deal with problem Soldiers and how to effectively handle their issues.
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SFC (Join to see)
SFC (Join to see) Don't forget what kind of personnel being left at the rear d and their issues as well. On top of it, with limited personnel and their issues, you still have to maintain normal operation and tasking given from the higher echelon.
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A former BN CSM once told me that " if you regret leaving someone behind, you left the right person." While that is not always the situation I do understand his point.
However regardless of the position it is the rating that matters. I know of a 1SG that was selected for QSP rather than SGM and was all butt hurt because he felt he had " punched all the tickets".
That's the mentality of some leaders, punch tickets rather than lead soldiers. He had been a DS, Battle Staff instructor, Audie Murphy member, Operations SGT and 1SG. Unfortunately he was missing something crucial, deployment in a leadership position. The war had been going for 10 years and yet he had never deployed in a direct leadership position.
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MSG Curtis Lange
My Brigade CSM and I had a similar conversation. There were 5 MSG in the Brigade Headquarters, he asked me which one of the others was more qualified and better prepared to do the job than I was. Told him that was an unfair question since I knew I needed a deployment to stay competitive with my peers. Decision was made by the Brigade Commander and CSM, out of my hands, so selection boards need to consider that not all Soldiers take the job voluntarily to avoid deployments and leadership time.
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No single assignment, at the senior levels, will guarantee promotion to the next higher rank. If you have deployed in the past, held various senior NCO positions, sought the tough jobs and performed well in all, the promotion will take care of itself. If it is any consolation, one of the best Soldiers I have ever known was selected to attend USASMA class 65 after his Rear D CSM (as a 1SG) time. He fought harder to deploy, than the worst Soldier fought to stay back. He tried everyway to convince the BDE CO/CSM to take him down range. It was his belief that if he did not deploy he would be the seen as the "dead weight". In all these years of war, we finally figured out that a strong senior leader needs to take care of the home front and tend to the issues left behind. If not, when we return we realize those problems and issues do not get better with time and separation. Track the promotion trends yourself but I believe you will see that a successful Rear D tour is looked at favorable on the select, train, promote cycle of SGM/CSM, if the other gates to promotion were met.
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YES, if you have done all the other career progression jobs. In the past it was a negative but now we realize it is a much harder position. We should always leave the best performers to take care of our Families and the Soldiers left behind - not the weakest.
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CSM (Join to see)
Thanks for your input CSM, it was a tough pill to swallow when I was told I was selected to stay. It was beneficial to my success as a 1SG as I learned a tremendous amount about the legal and medical side as well as meeting the needs of the families.
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MSG Curtis Lange
I was the Rear Detachment Commander many times as an NCO. This was at a time before it was looked at as a positive. In addition I was in an MOS where being in a leadership position was a negative for board consideration. It was one of my toughest, yet most rewarding assignments personally. Serving as a Rear Det Commander or 1SG is not for weak individuals, you will see and deal with some of the craziest issues of your career. Do not be afraid to take advantage of experts, you are not alone.
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I think it shows diversity and the fact that a leader can work in any environment and be successful. The boards look for Soldiers can can step outside of their MOS and still make it happen. As long as you have constant success through your NCOERs and assignments you should have no problems come board time.
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Absolutely.
The unit's rear detachment is a vital part of the deployed mission and it's leaders should be rated as such.
The unit's rear detachment is a vital part of the deployed mission and it's leaders should be rated as such.
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SPC Michael Martinez
I agree with MSG Q. As the 1SG, you are more than a leader to the Soldiers in the rear, you are the line of communication for the home front, and in a critical position to maintain the front lines.
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MSG Curtis Lange
Too bad the Career Counselor SGMs and Branch did not believe that in the late '90s.
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Depends on if you have deployment experience already or not. As the deployments wind down, those with a combat patch will become less and less the norm. Deployment experience and a variety of experiences across deployments I think would outweigh the diversity of a rear-d assignment. Not to mention, I've heard and seen too many horror stories in dealing with rear detachments and think it's probably more of a headache than it's worth.
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Everything that I have seen from a rear detachment after five deployments is guaranteed to be home by noon and no response when you are trying to reach them from Afghanistan. However the thought of why the rear detachment was created is a vital part of accomplishing the mission.
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You were left back as Rear D for a company as a 1SG? As part of 6-101? Or were you the Battalion Rear D?
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1SG, I know I am not a 1SG but I would have to say yes. Any time you are a 1SG no matter what, and are rated as such it is a positive assignment. You learn a lot more in a different setting. I was a SSG for just over a year and I got selected as being the rear detachment 1SG for the battalion while they were deployed. If I was a SFC I would have been rated as the read detachment Sergeant Major but because I was only a SSG I was the 1SG. I learned a lot doing that position and looked at 1SGs a lot differently. I always knew they had a lot of work but that put into perspective a different kind.
Good luck in your future.
Good luck in your future.
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