The Company First Sergeant
By Major Mike Breslin
I’ve had three companies, six First Sergeants, and two Master Sergeants fulfilling the role of senior enlisted advisor. Two of those guys were good. The rest sucked. Here are a few things the bad ones did:
MSgt N published a policy letter that was in violation of numerous Marine Corps Orders and the battalion SOP, put my name on the bottom, signed my name, and published it. He then told the course chiefs not to ask me about it. They asked anyways, and we fixed it. He went away.
First Sergeant G was about to fall out of a forced march, which was part of the culminating company training/cohesion building event prior to deployment. He performed so poorly that I had to lie to the company, tell them they had met my training objectives, and make the final three miles an administrative, slower paced event to save his already tenuous reputation with the lads. The entire hike was downhill, by the way.
First Sergeant D lost accountability of his Marines on every movement. On a DFT to 29 Palms, he reported the wrong numbers for 22 straight days, resulting in a battalion Stop-EX to determine if we had left Marines in the impact area. He was ultimately fired at Bridgeport after falling out of every movement, which he claimed was a result of something called “sympathy morning sickness” for his wife. She wasn’t pregnant.
One could think that after such bad experiences with Company First Sergeant types, I would have stopped believing in the rank, and what it can do for a company commander. Despite the collection of bad dudes, I’m still a firm believer in the rank. Let me share what some of the good ones have done.
First Sergeant D told me that I needed to be the “people’s CO” and that he wouldn’t allow me to pass unpopular word/orders anymore. He felt that his role was to absorb the Marines’ ire for unpopular decisions so I could be well liked. He was actually mad at me for risking my popularity. I didn’t agree with him, but I admired the character his statement reflected.
First Sergeant D had been on an SDA, and his feet had gotten soft. During his initial counseling, I told him that he could never fall out in front of the Marines. He spent the next three months hiking and ruck running three times a week until he could run circles around almost every Marine in the company.
First Sergeant R came to me to sit down and learn what my expectations for him would be, 90 days before he was slated to show up to the unit. He left that day with the company personnel break down, copies of all initial counselings that I had given to the company staff, and a copy of the company training plan. When he arrived to the company, two months into our deployment, he came in like a hurricane. Within three days of his arrival, the company was noticeably better.
First Sergeant H told me that I needed to “plant my intent with my feet.” This was a gentle nudge to remind me that allowing myself to get tied to my computer and buried in admin was not the correct way to command that company. I have been following that advice since he gave it to me six years ago.
If the system is working right, the Marine that you will depend on as your company First Sergeant will be fit, motivated, broadly experienced, and willing to learn. If he/she is not a grunt, they should be learning what the company does. If he is a grunt, then he should be ready to mentor the company gunny when required (and believe me, it is sometimes). Instead, he/she should be growing into the role of the First Sergeant.
A good First Sergeant has years of experience under his belt. Whether he/she is a frocked Gunny, or on their second or third trip as a company First Sergeant, they have seen a lot. They should be able to ensure that your problem children don’t swallow all of your time, but they are always looking to get your studs to school, meritoriously promoted, or awarded for their efforts. They should be training your platoon sergeants how to be SNCOs (as opposed to teaching them how to be platoon sergeants-that’s in the company gunny realm). They should be helping you to keep looking up and out. They should temper your anger when your first reaction is to crush a junior Marine in an NJP, and they should be forcing you to hold Marines accountable when your favorite squad leader gets a DUI. They should ensure your counseling program is tight, and they should take the NCOs in hand, and teach them how to be NCOs.
What does a company commander owe his First Sergeant? At the outset, I think you owe him a solid initial counseling. You can’t ever assume that your First Sergeant sprang from the womb fully formed. I think of initial counselings as a three-part document. Part one spells out the institutional billet expectations for the company First Sergeant from the T&R. Part two is YOUR expectations for the First Sergeant. Part three spells out your redlines, the character or integrity based infractions that you cannot accept. Depending on who you are counseling, you may choose to omit part three. I have found that it is useful to include your zero- defect items early on in the relationship. An important, and often overlooked component of this critical relationship is you asking your First Sergeant what his expectations are for you. How does he learn? What are his assessed strengths and weaknesses, and how can you help him? What is his family situation, and how will that affect his ability to be present around the company? You need to know all of these things early on, so you can figure out how to get him from where he is now to the next level of professionalism.
You have to train him, and you have to periodically conduct formal counseling sessions, for both good and bad First Sergeants. Even the very best First Sergeants have something to learn from you, as you in turn, have things to learn from them. Find some tactical areas that will belong to the First Sergeant. By making him the company duty expert in a handful of tactical areas, you give him ownership in some important aspect of your mission and increase his standing with the Marines. It’s a cheap way to snap a non-combat arms First Sergeant into a tactical mindset. Here are a few suggestions:
MACO for all movements/platforms
Fieldcraft Enforcer
Field Hygiene Enforcer
Casualty Evacuation and Tracking
If you are working with a very junior/frocked First Sergeant, you may need to force him to develop a relationship with the Sergeant Major. You may need to compel him to foster positive relationships with the senior First Sergeants. If your First Sergeant is coming from a high demand, low density, very technical MOS, he may never have been forced to forge relationships or network outside of his primary MOS. The senior enlisted network can be a powerful thing for your company as a unit and the individual Marines within it.
To me, winning looks like this: your First Sergeant is empowered to speak for you when you aren’t there. He is comfortable walking into your office and telling you that you are wrong, and you are big enough to listen. He can and will execute your intent, even when he doesn’t agree. You must possess the ability to back off of an issue because you trust his age, experience, and wisdom. He doesn’t ever feel like he needs to hide bad news from you. On the flip side of that coin, when he brings you bad news, he should be bringing you some solutions to go with that bad news. When the Marines see you, they see him; you are joined at the hip physically, culturally and ideologically.
At this point in your careers, you have likely seen representations of the characters listed above. Of all the relationships that you will manage as a company commander, one of the most impactful, and potentially hazardous, is the relationship with your company’s First Sergeant. Leverage his experience, listen to what he has to say, but remember that like all of us, he is a Marine that craves good leadership, good mentorship, and a culture that enables him to develop. You can make that happen. If you do it right you will reap personal rewards, and your company will be a better organization for it.
Major Mike Breslin is the off-going OpsO for V25 and will join the staff of EWS this summer. He can be reached at breslinmd@gmail.com