Leaders, First sergeants, Commanders, Anyone in charge. How often do you notice the Privates who are squared away?

Always, I try to talk to all my Soldiers (and others as well) at least once a week. I do a walk through and see who is squared away and knows there stuff and who doesn't. When a 1SG asks me about a Soldier in the unit being ready for this level or that, I can usually give them an informed and reasoned account as to if they are ready for promotion, or a different work role. As an NCO I believe you must always keep an eye on all your Soldiers (to include those that out rank you, enlisted and commissioned). Not just to praise, but to learn from. I do not know everything.

Every day! I have a couple working in my shop and they are my go-to guys when I need something done. I also have a tendency to invest a lot more time in a squared away junior Soldier because I know I'm not spitting in the wind; I'm helping develop a future SFC, MSG, SGM. Trust me, I notice just as much those E-1, E-2, and E-3s who are just sandbags taking up a slot in my shop while forcing myself and their peers to work harder because they won't shoulder their share of the load.

As stated down below, i recently just brought back " Guard Mount" within my company. Whoever My commander and I deemed had the best uniform (The Old Guard Standard) we would give them that ceremony off. This also challenged the others to want to beat there buddy so they don't have to march. Overall improving moral and gives me, as a 1SG more over view on my troops on who is putting forth the effort or who just getting by. I also just go around and talk to the troops while they are smoking to see how moral is and how the day has been going.

That all depends on what level you are at in the command. As a platoon commander and staff officer? Every day. Up in the company? Less so since there are now hundreds of people to watch over and the expectation is that their OIC is paying the close attention required.

If I wrote Pro/Cons on them or gave them a FITREP, I knew them.

I was once the CO of a 1600 man unit. I used to make sure I walked through the entire area at least every other day, making myself available if anyone wanted to approach me and stopping to talk with my people if none approached me. Scared the heck out of them at first, but once they realized I wasn't head hunting it was very profitable for me and appreciated by them. Any promotions were done in person at a unit formation.

I open a dialogue with platoon sergeants monthly. They share insight of who is in their ranks that deserves consideration above their peers. That with what I observe, collectivly, we recommend to the approving authority. The commander has the final say.

All the time, as a LT it pissed off my NCO's as a CDR they thank me for it.

I'd pay attention to the entire crew. When it came to junior ENLs, my SEL would always let me know the good stuff going on and I'd thank them for it mostly because juniors are not aware how much they really contribute to the mission or in keeping each other alive. When it came to a problem child, I always reinforced the strong preference that the NCO community take the lead and involve the O types when necessary. The other thing is to never be too senior to care. If I saw a piece of trash on the deck, I'd pick it up because shipmates work to keep things squared away for each other.

As a leader I try to pay close attention to my squad. I try to learn as much about them as possible. I learn their strengths, their weaknesses, and try to help sustain and improve upon those. I know which ones are ready to take that next step and advance in rank and who's not. I give those who are looking to lead some responsibility to to give them a taste of what being an NCO is like. Granted, in the reserve I don't get much time to spend with my troops, so I have to really make the best use of the little time we have.

It's absurd how much an engaged command team knows about their Soldiers; not just the E1-E3 crowd, but all of them. I can attest that everything the lower enlisted do, or fail to do, I see. Does that warrant an on the spot correction or praise every time? Absolutely not. You must allow people to fail and be successful in private, as long as they understand the reasoning behind that success or failure.

Being an engaged leader is more than just asking them how their family is doing every once in a while. It's being that sound voice of reason when the world turns against them, or being that heavy hand to apply punishment when necessary to redirect feelings of animosity that they would otherwise hold against their 1st line leaders.

My commander and I have written numerous awards for Soldiers of all grades for various reasons, many of which they had no idea they were getting an award. This comes from being involved at every level of Soldiering that we can.

For promotion it's absolutely up to the PSG to recommend promotion with the verification by that Soldiers direct line leader.

Remember, Senior NCOs were in your shoes once too, and not even that long ago.