Do you have to do a special assignment, like recruiter or drill sergeant, as an NCO?

Not necessarily, but why wouldn’t you? Both are integral pieces of the Army’s workforce life-cycle. Those duties are your opportunity to pay it forward or, pay back those who assisted in making you a trusted Army professional.

So I ask again, wanting to get a good idea of where your question is coming from, why wouldn’t you?

It really depends on how good you are in your MOS. If you rank in the top 1% of your MOS then you’ll advance ahead of most your peers. Special assignments help you get there quicker. When I say top 1% I mean in everything the Army expects you to be. Job skill, physically, education, leadership positions, etc. You just can’t be a good generator operator. Best assignment I had was my time as a drill sergeant, even though it was at the worst Army installation in the Army at the time.

There is no requirment. There aren’t enough to go around to make them mandatory. If one is an expert their MOS it is encouraged. Either way, the key to success is doing your current job the best that you possibly can. Thier are CSMs who have, and those who have not. Become an expert, and take care of your Soldiers.

SGT (Join to see) Do you have to? No. Does it help? Yes. I personally didn't any special assignments and I was able to be selected for USASMA and be promoted to SGM.

It isn't mandatory but it helps you become a well rounded leader. It also pads the resume if you have any intentions of going E7 or beyond. You kind of bottleneck your career cred if you don't do a special duty assignment. This is very much the same in other branches as well. In the Marine Corps there is a SDA screening team that will literally track down eligible Marine NCO's who aren't already pending orders so if you aren't proactive in your career and getting things locked on when you are eligible for orders the SDA team will scoop your tail up. But I would encourage you to find something that might fit. I went on Embassy Duty for my special duty assignment and it was extremely rewarding.

It's not required, but helps for career advancement down the road if you're looking to stay in for 20 and aim for the higher NCO ranks before you retire. Also - recruiter and drill aren't the only two options for such a requirement. I did a stint as an instructor at the CI school back in the early 2010s and it counted.

You can easily volunteer for a broadening assignment, you don’t have to wait for your branch to place you on one. Your branch manager has to meet a quota to fill a certain amount of force generating assignments each year. The majority of your CMF are three or four MOS’s meaning they will fill most of them. There is a good chance that if you never volunteer you would never get placed on a broadening assignment

SGT (Join to see) Eventually you will get a call from branch that you will go to a broadening assignment which may include Drill Sergeant, Recruiting (not as a 79S but as a detail recruiter in your PMOS), and other assignments. Recruiting and Drill Sergeant are always re-occurring bills to pay for the Army. Usually the targets for DS are SSGs.

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While you don't have to, the Army can try to coerce you into doing them. I had two buddies selected for a recruiting duty assignment and neither wanted to take it. They were threatened with bars to reenlistment. One went on to be a recruiter. The other took the bar and enlisted in the USAR. Bith are retired now.