The First Sergeant
by Sergeant Major Jason DiCosimo
The Company First Sergeant is a powerful asset that a Company Commander would be foolish to neglect or misuse. The sum of many years of knowledge and experience that a Company First Sergeant brings to the command team in particular and the unit as a whole should be leveraged to the fullest potential. Acting within a well-defined commander’s intent, the Company First Sergeant should set the tone for what the climate of the company will be.
If the Marines look up to him, love him and respect him, the First Sergeant can greatly enable his Marines and allow for an environment where they are able to train and fight with the best chances of winning. The First Sergeant must be a strict disciplinarian as well, the Marines know this and understand this. The First Sergeant is the Company Commander’s confidant, guide, mentor, sounding board, friend and advisor. If the relationship between the First Sergeant and the Commander is fractured, the company will be fractured...or... they will pull together on their own with the Platoon Commanders and Platoon Sergeants and leave your asses behind to deal with your drama!
So how do we build that mystical relationship between the Commander and the Senior Enlisted Advisor? The one where every joke is met with laughter, every problem met with a paired and shared solution, where communication is constant and understanding and clarity is abundant when each order is given and carried out, where every bit of advice you seek is systematically approached and answered by the First Sergeant who seem to just know everything? Great question! The answer is in the question; beautiful and simple...
Communication is the secret to success-
For any relationship to work, the experts all agree on the number one tool that will give it the best chances of survival, communication. The same rings true for the commander and the First Sergeant. From my experiences as the Senior Enlisted Advisor for the very best type of commanders to the absolute worst of the worst commanders, one fact remains true, and that is... communication is a must! Easier said than done, right? Here’s what I learned through the years:
Start your relationship with your First Sergeant on day one. Don’t wait to conduct the initial counseling, don’t wait to give expectations and intent, don’t wait to tell him about yourself and your philosophy and ask him about himself. You both should seek each other out as early as possible.
Check your egos without losing command. This one may be tougher for some than others. You and your First Sergeant made it to a critical place in your careers, but for very different reasons. Humility on both of your parts is going to be key here. Our egos are what get us in the most trouble, stunt our growth; both professionally and personally, and cause our teams to suffer if we are the ones making the decision. It’s okay to be wrong when making a plan, developing the initial stages of an order, debating on how or why you are going to make a decision, or any host of scenarios. However, it is not okay to be wrong once the call is made and the order is issued! This is where your First Sergeant comes in. He is your sanity check and your sounding board.
There should be no questions on where you stand, how you do business, what your expectations are, what your limitations are, where your weaknesses lie, and this all goes for your First Sergeant as well. He has expectations of you and he has strengths and weaknesses just like you. The trick is to have them out the open, talk about them from day one, and work together to make both of you better and more efficient as a team. With this as a focus, with development for the two of you a daily topic, counseling and a plan for development for your First Sergeant is taken care of.
I will end on this note for now...
Your relationship with your Senior Enlisted Advisor starts before either of you check into the company. Start communicating early, often, openly and
honestly. Always remember that the company will grind ahead with or without the two of you, that’s the beauty of being part of something bigger than yourself. You two are not needed, but instead, you are wanted for the value that you will add. If you aren’t there, I promise you that your positions will be filled before the flag is folded up that evening for TAPS and you both will be ghosts in that company. Now, with that being said...you WILL work hard to build a team that fosters unity, cohesion, open dialogue, loyalty and success. All of this will percolate to your Platoon Commanders, Platoon Sergeants and ultimately down to all of your marines. A house divided cannot stand. If you and your First Sergeant have a great working relationship or a terrible one, your entire company will see it and it will set the tone for your relationship with everyone else there, make it count.
At the end of the day it comes down to the mission and how well trained, equipped and prepared your Marines are to deal out violence to the enemy, provide humanitarian assistance to those in need, evacuate personnel who are noncombatants and are in need for an exit or whatever other missions the Corps has for you and your Marines. If someone is not cutting it, not pulling their weight, not learning from their mistakes, not ADDING VALUE... well then, my good sir, it’s time for that someone to be off of the team!
Sergeant Major DiCosimo, recently retired from Paris Island and previously served as the Company 1stSgt for India 3/7. He currently works with the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service as an Engineer. He can be reached at dico1141@gmail.com