What Rank Was The Most Challenging But Rewarding?

Marine E-3 - just the fact that you are getting ready to make the transition from jr enlisted to NCO, the bond of your jr peers, the knowledge gained, and hard work.

E-8, because I became pretty bullet proof and could challenge and change stupid decisions by field grade officers. Yes, I retired as an E-8, too...

PFC. lowest of rank in the army. Received little or no respect from the higher ranks. It was a very trying time for me as a women’s Army Corps member. I was so grateful when my boss who was the Chaplains Colonel updated my rank to E4. They gave me respect as the first Women’s Chaplains Assistant.. Even though my bosses were both Colonels I was respected and treated with dignity at the Chapel Center where I worked. Wonderful people I worked with.

Sargent E-5 was the most rewarding. I served in Vietnam as a combat Marine from June 6, 1965, until April 12, 1968. I was gone for ninety days between deployments. I got it by doing my job and not getting killed. I felt like John Wayne in one of his war movies by making the stripe. Today, I am older and wiser.

Without a doubt, Sergeant E5. The transition from peer to supervisor can be extremely challenging & emotionally isolating. Supervising people who were once your peers who knows you well, hung out with you, & knows all your flaws; but are now your subordinates may sometimes place you in positions that challenges your leadership skills. Earning their respect while simultaneously demonstrating to your own supervisors that you are competent, can build a team, & accomplish missions truly defines your primary leadership skills.

The E-6 rank, on the border of accountability to the enlisted but still requiring approval to make decisions.

Although I completed my 23-year career as a Lieutenant Colonel, I believe the most demanding and rewarding rank I held during my career was as a Captain serving as a Company Commander. The position of company commander carries with it the authority and decision making in every facet of the company organization and functions. All things go through the company commander. It was an exhilarating and demanding experience resulting in experience and personal growth that cannot be had anywhere else in the Army. I think the experience caused me to be a better officer and leader going forward.

Private E1 was my most challenging and rewarding experience! I was about to be drafted during the Vietnam War, so I enlisted instead. I had heard that you could enlist in order to obtain a desirable position, mine being OCS. Basic was a culture, mental, and physical challenge. I only weighed 117 pounds at the time, having been a distance runner in high school. Being so light, I was almost not accepted into the Army. After being bused to Benning, I really didn't think my first training morning would be buffing floors and cleaning a latrine, but it was. The discipline I was exposed too grew me up quickly. Every morning, our company ran around a very dusty training field. The dust raised by our feet made it hard to breathe and see. I caught URI No. 2. I guess you could call it pneumonia. I was admitted to the base hospital for a week. I returned to my unit upon release and learned that our company was on field exercises. Our staff sergeant informed me that I might be recycled to start basic all over again. He asked me if I could type; I said yes. I became his clerk for a week. He said I could still possibly be recycled. I was allowed to complete the rest of basic, with a decision to still be made about me being recycled. In our final week, we participated in a mile run in fatigues and combat boots. I outran the entire company and was allowed to graduate from basic training. If I had been recycled, I may never have completed OCS, attended flight training or flown helicopters in Vietnam, married my wife, had two children, or have completed any of the additional things I have done in my life. My entire life would have been different. My military experience as a private E1 was my foundation for my becoming a forthright individual in our society!

e-1

Actually, it was Private! I was 17years and 25 days old, Dec 3rd, 1963. President Kennedy had been assassinated, and Viet Nam was a skirmish that everyone was talking about. Private Jerrell, US Army. I'm off to Basic Training at Fort Polk, LA. Into a cattle car, stand at attention, push-ups, pull-ups, Sgt Davidson seemed like he singled me out, yelling and telling me I was still a kid. Well, I grew up fast and will forever be thankful for those first 8 weeks. WOW. Still a private I shipped off to Fort Sill, OK. for cannon cocker school. Again, learning, learning, learning.
I'm now 75 years old, retired from the U.S. Army, spent a tour in Viet Nam, 2 tours in Germany and I will be forever grateful to all that made me the person I am today. Yes, Private was by far the most rewarding. Private to Private first class, what a time.