Study the Manual
This cannot be stressed enough. Whether your unit uses Casey's, Gilham's, Hardee's or the revised Hardee's, know it. Not only should the first sergeant be able to perform every movement, he must be able to explain each one to the men. This means that the school of the soldier, school of the company and instruction of skirmishers should be studied. The first sergeant should be able to instruct the rest of the companies noncommissioned officers on their jobs, as well as know the job of each company officer. If the officer is wounded or killed, he needs to be able to take command of the company in battle.
                      Micro-manage
Too many first sergeants try to do all the work, even when they have NCO's to help them. The first sergeant is a supervisor. He has four other sergeants and corporals to assist him in his tasks. His job is to relay the orders given by the officer to the cadre of company sergeants. When the company is broken into sections, the other sergeants take charge of their respective sections and the work is done. You might question the use of nine NCO's on the line for a company. But research of units on campaign, primarily in the Western theater, has yielded examples of companies with full complements ofNCO's even when strength was down to 33 to 52 men and officers.
           Duties of the First Sergeant, Page 5
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