E8s and E9s, What is something you wish your subordinates knew about your job?

SSgt Peter VanDyk — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 18:07:56 -0500

What are we ignorant to that you wish we knew about your job? We know you go to meetings, conduct NJPs and inspections, but what else goes on? I always was curious.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Feb 25 at 2024 12:26 AM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 00:26:44 -0500

I am going to answer your question in the light of you are looking to become a 1SG/SGM. Just scraping the surface of years of experience/knowledge required for the jobs. Hopefully this helps.

1- COMMUNICATION: From what I see on this site, many are lacking in this skill, i.e. ability to spell correctly, grammar - the ability to put together a readable, understandable sentence/paragraph. How many times have I seen someone use the word "there" when the sentence required the word "their" or "they're".
2. REGS/TRAINING: So many come on this site wanting to know where to find this or that, such or such. Anyone on this site has access to the REGS online. But also every leader needs to know where to find these answers. SNCOs don't always have the time to find every answer, thus they need to know how to train soldiers. Not only are we responsible for training our replacements, we train the younger soldiers as well. Don't always give the answers, make them find the answers, then they will know where to look, thus once they become leaders they can train others. On the same note, you never let them fail. If they can't find the answer, play the 20 questions bit, make them think while your are leading them to their solutions.
3. LESS TIME WITH THE TROOPS: You will not get to do all the "fun stuff", you are one of he planners now, you are going to be more tied to that desk (I hated it), but you have to learn it because it is part of your job now. Also you must be knowledgeable in all aspects of your MOS. I was 11B, but as a SGM I became a 11Z which meant I had to know all aspects of every 11 series. As a 1SG you will get some of this at the company level, but as a SGM you will be more exposed to it. Remember as a SGM you main job is "TAKING CARE OF THE TROOPS", not only enlisted, but officers as well. You are always thinking two steps ahead.
4. TIME: As an E8/9 I was in the Army Reserve living in Denmark with my duty stations in Germany. Yea, Reserves are only one weekend a month - forget that. You do what the job requires. I spent countless hours on the computer at home doing army stuff. Sometimes it was a whole weekend, did I get paid - no, but if I didn't do it, my soldiers would be lacking when drill time came. Oh, then there was Promotion Boards I had to attend, Commander Conferences, Special Events. I was self employed, so I had to shuffle my job to make the trips south all the time. Many times I wanted to cash it in, but I kept my "eye on the prize" - retirement pay. You have no idea how much time if you do your job properly, correctly it takes. When I retired I was so amazed how much free time I now had. When I was involved it never struck me how much. If you're (grammar is it your or you're) married, the spouse needs to be very understanding. I can guarantee there will be times it pushes the limits, no matter if you're active or reserve.
5. YOURSELF: Finally the position you're in, you need to be confident in yourself - mentally, professionally. You HAVE to lead from the front. When it comes to APFT you are first in line and you never "just pass". Military knowledge, if you don't know the answer immediately, you let them know, find out and pass it on. There will be times when you know you are right, yet an officer might try to bully you in another direction. You will have doubts about yourself, many times, but always rely on what you know. If you don't know, then find out. Like a Boy Scout, you are always "Prepared". The maximum effect range of an excuse is ZERO. You uniform is always impeccable, you are never, never late for anything, and if you are, there better be a dammed good reason. As a 1SG, and even more as a SGM, the eyes of everyone are upon you. You are under the microscope all the time. Remember we are there for more than just, "GET THE HELL OFF MY GRASS"

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Feb 26 at 2024 8:42 AM

SGM Erik Marquez — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 08:42:47 -0500

Nothing, not a single thing.
We need you to be an expert on your job and the jobs of your subordinates, and reasonably capable in the jobs of those one above you in rank/duty position.
Your Sergeant Major needs you to be able to train all the required tasks, assist a junior soldier in processing a travel claim, assist that newly married marine get the spouse in the DEERS system, and work through the hurdles of the housing system. that SGM needs you to know your Marines and get them help when you see work, peers, home life negatively affecting them or their job.

If you are asking what YOU need to be proficient at to be a First Sergeant, Master Gunnery Sergeant, or Sergeant Major ...at your level today, see all of the above. As you master your Marines tasks and your own, you will be allowed to learn, perform maybe even lead Marines on tasks your seniors are responsible for.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 26 at 2024 9:24 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:24:47 -0500

1) What they think they know about my grade and positions....they don't really know.
2) What I do at my rank and position is not always rainbows and butterflies.
3) It can be lonely here at the top.
4) They don't need to worry about my job, they need to worry about theirs.

Response by CSM William Everroad made Feb 27 at 2024 9:27 AM

CSM William Everroad — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:27:43 -0500

SSgt Peter VanDyk, I have to agree with the sentiment so far, I wish that junior enlisted would worry about being better at their jobs because we answer for everything. I would love to spend more time on field ex's with the Soldiers, and I do when the BN joins the exercise. But most of the time my battlefield rotations end up digging into processes to figure out why a unit can't get something right or fixed.

Every little thing that Soldiers have to do is tracked and turned into some kind of metric that we have to account for and explain down to the nametape. (depending on the CG). And depending on our Commander, how much is put on our plate to "fix" is very variable, so shifting expectations from one commander to another. One may want you to focus on specific things that are their soapbox.

Everyone took the fitness test? are you sure? is that profile in the system? No, you don't have a recovery period. Why did your company's average score go down? You do PT "on your own instead of conducting unit PT? How are you assessing fitness progress? We have a system built for you to use, why are you making stuff up?

Those evaluations taking a bit long? Why do they get kicked back? They found an error? We covered this in NCODP, tell your Company Commander that supplementary reviewer means they actually have to look at it, why haven't they made me and you a delegate so we could have caught this? Now its 90 days overdue.

We are the umbrella that prevents BDE Commanders from running your companies for you. We make up things on the spot and turn around and tell your 1SGs to get their stuff in order, sometimes they listen. The problem is, 1SGs sometimes want to be troop pushers, so they aren't forecasting what the second order effects of putting off that inspection/inventory, letting snuffy lapse on weapons qual, not closing out TASP alerts, getting evals submitted on the THRU date, not submitting training schedules for approval, not preparing or submitting SPCs and SGTs for the Semi-C boards, not cutting AAMs, not conducting (or attending) training meetings, not prioritizing SHARP (or turning it into a joke), not training their leaders to be better leaders.

Everything in the military (regardless of branch) is connected. If everyone does their job at the "meets the standards" level, everything is easy. But they don't, so it rolls upward. Shit rolls downhill because the people at the bottom don't build steppes by simply doing their jobs.

Response by SSG Terrell Lancaster made Feb 27 at 2024 11:43 AM

SSG Terrell Lancaster — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 11:43:19 -0500

Besides the usual stuff like meetings and NJPs, there's a lot more on the plate. We often deal with high-level strategic planning, mentoring junior personnel, handling complex administrative tasks, and sometimes even navigating tricky political waters.

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Feb 27 at 2024 12:36 PM

CPT Aaron Kletzing — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 12:36:39 -0500

Some of the most impactful and memorable experiences I had as a junior Officer came from spending time chatting with E8s and E9s. There's something really special about an E8/9 who is committed to helping develop junior Officers. It's such a unique vantage point that they have. I was lucky to have many awesome senior NCOs around me in my units. Of course, a big piece of this is the Officer proactively seeking out this kind of time with these NCOs -- and then being open to learning. Some Officers are good with it, others are closed off to it. And then some senior NCOs just prefer to not take time to develop junior Officers even if given the chance, and it's not my place to say what's right vs wrong there; maybe they have other pressing things to handle. But the senior NCOs that helped sharpen me and make me a better leader...I will always remember that.