personal equipment

[sniperdude411]

thank you very much, sir.

[Ziska]

I thought CSM was company sergeant major...

[Shek]

I thought CSM was company sergeant major...

For the US it is Command Sergeant Major, who serves as the senior enlisted advisor at the battalion level and above. Company Commanders have First Sergeants. I cannot speak for other armies.

[dave angel]

we have RSM's - Really Scary Monsters. regimental sergeant majors / WO1's who i presume fill the same role as CSM's in the US Army - discipline, grapevine etc... they usually act as support company commander (heavy weapons/MT/RAP/ logistics) when the battalion is away.

each company will have a company sergeant major (CSM / WO2's) responsible to the OC for discipline and grapevine, in the absence of a plethora of spare officers he might act as the company 2ic or run the support platoon.

colour sergeants and sergeants will run platoons when no trained officers are available - probably about 1 in 6 infantry platoons in the british army is run by a colour sergeant or sergeant, its probably a bit higher in non-infantry units, my unit has five platoons of which only two have officers as platoon commanders.

[sniperdude411]

BTW, does anyone know of the ladder of personnel titles in the military? (You know, PFC, PSC, CPL, etc. etc.)

[Bill]

It's different in every branch, but here's the army:

Enlisted:

E-1 Pvt
E-2 Pv2
E-3 PFC
E-4 Specialist

NCO:

E-4 Corporal
E-5 Sgt(also called 'buck sgt')
E-6 Staff Sgt
E-7 SFC
E-7 First Sgt
E-8 Master Sgt
E-9 Sgt Major
E-9 Command Sgt Major
E-9 Sgt Major of the Army

Warrant:

WO1 Warrant officer
CWO2 Chief Warrant officer
CWO3 .....
CWO4 .....

Officer:

O-1 2d Luitenant(aka 'idiot', 'fool', and 'know it all')
O-2 1st Luitentant
O-3 Captain

Field Grade Officer:

O-4 Major
O-5 Lt. Colonel
O-6 Colonel
O-7 Brigadier General
O-8 Major General
O-9 Lt General
O-10 General
O-10 General of the Army(the last 5 star was MacArtur, but the rank still exists)

[Shek]

It's different in every branch, but here's the army:

Enlisted:

E-1 Pvt
E-2 Pv2
E-3 PFC
E-4 Specialist

NCO:

E-4 Corporal
E-5 Sgt(also called 'buck sgt')
E-6 Staff Sgt
E-7 SFC
E-7 First Sgt
E-8 Master Sgt
E-9 Sgt Major
E-9 Command Sgt Major
E-9 Sgt Major of the Army

Warrant:

WO1 Warrant officer
CWO2 Chief Warrant officer
CWO3 .....
CWO4 .....

Officer:

O-1 2d Luitenant(aka 'idiot', 'fool', and 'know it all')
O-2 1st Luitentant
O-3 Captain

Field Grade Officer:

O-4 Major
O-5 Lt. Colonel
O-6 Colonel
O-7 Brigadier General
O-8 Major General
O-9 Lt General
O-10 General
O-10 General of the Army(the last 5 star was MacArtur, but the rank still exists)

A few additions:

Snipe had a typo - First Sergeant is an E-8
Also, he forgot O-0 - "O nothing" = cadet, cadidiot, ROTC Nazi, etc. Technically, cadets outrank all enlisted but rank less than a warrant, but in practice, yeah, sure
O-1 through O-3 is considered company grade
O-7 and above are all general/flag officers (they no longer are affiliated with a branch and get a flag with the number of stars they are displayed at official functions and outside the building they work in when they are a commander - also, they get a cool "power" belt to wear when in battle dress uniform [for in garrison, not in the field])

[sniperdude411]

Thank you very much both of you:)
I hope you all know what I'm going to do with my life;
what kind of position would I be in if I was in the Army for 30 years?

[Shek]

Thank you very much both of you:)
I hope you all know what I'm going to do with my life;
what kind of position would I be in if I was in the Army for 30 years?

Wow, 30 years. If you spend 30 years in the infantry, plan on lots of stories about killing terrorists and multiple operations on your back, hips, and knees. I don't know how NCOs do it for so many years. I admired the dedication of my senior NCOs, but worried about their health sometimes because of their desire to continue to set the example in front of their men. Maybe I was just dealt a bunch of "cripples," but the infantry can be a hard life.

Some other advice, if you do enlist, is to get your college education during your time in. As sad as it sounds, outside of being a defense contractor, many times 20 years of service doesn't get you a whole lot of respect in the business world. A 1SG that may have just finished with a company of 200-300 men, but without a college education, he is often seen just as a person without a college education instead of a person with solid middle management skills. The type of degree is not as important as just having one.

The last thing, save money while you are in the service. While you'll get retirement (50% if you stay in for 20 and 75% if you stay in for 30), it is not enough to live on in most of the US since senior NCOs are underpaid in my opinion. Thus, set aside money every month that you are in the service through either the Thrift Savings Plan or to your own IRA/savings accounts.

I hope that that didn't scare you off at all. While the "cripple" part has a hint of sarcasm, there is no doubt that carrying rucksacks, wearing body armor, and jumping out of airplanes can wear a man down after a while. I've enjoyed my time in so far, and while I know I could be making much more $$ in another job, I wouldn't trade a high paying job that I wouldn't enjoy for what I've done in the Army thus far. It's great to see you setting long term goals for yourself, and don't forget about the fact that one day the Army won't want an old man, and so you need to plan for that while you're in as well. Just don't forget to enjoy your days as an irresponsible teen - you only get one chance

[sniperdude411]

I was told (by a current enlisted Army soldier) taht the retirement plan is now 75% for 20 yrs. and 100% for 30 yrs. It may have changed since you've retired. And yes, I do plan on having multiple replacements on many joints, at least it's free. And yes, I am definitely enjoying my teenhood. Great fun.
And how long would it take for me to become an E-6?
Also, I plan on starting my own class-3 gun dealership after I retire.

[Bill]

"Snipe had a typo - First Sergeant is an E-8"

Jesus, if he saw me make that mistake i'd be wearing his boot as a butt plug.....

E-8 Master Sgt
E-8 First Sgt

Sorry bout that... :(

[Bill]

"Wow, 30 years. If you spend 30 years in the infantry, plan on lots of stories about killing terrorists and multiple operations on your back, hips, and knees. I don't know how NCOs do it for so many years. I admired the dedication of my senior NCOs, but worried about their health sometimes because of their desire to continue to set the example in front of their men. Maybe I was just dealt a bunch of "cripples," but the infantry can be a hard life."

Tell me about it. I only served 4 years, and i have all kinds of physical problems as a result of my time in the infantry.

[Shek]

I was told (by a current enlisted Army soldier) taht the retirement plan is now 75% for 20 yrs. and 100% for 30 yrs. It may have changed since you've retired. And yes, I do plan on having multiple replacements on many joints, at least it's free. And yes, I am definitely enjoying my teenhood. Great fun.
And how long would it take for me to become an E-6?
Also, I plan on starting my own class-3 gun dealership after I retire.

He's got his facts wrong - it's 50% at 20 and 75% at 30. BTW, I'm only at 9 years - I still have 11 to go. To make E-6, if you're super high speed, you can make E-6 in 4-5 years, but it's normally around 7-9, I believe. The promotion point system has changed, but essentially, to make E-5 and E-6, you need to be recommended by your commander to go in front of the promotion board. In reality, it is your 1SG who will tell the commander who should go to the board. He can send you once you reach your secondary zone, and once you make your primary zone, then you have to be sent unless there is counseling on the specific reasons why you aren't being sent and what you need to do to overcome these deficiencies (before the old timers get upset, the counseling is easy to do - for example "you are fat, you must be within AR body fat standards before we will send you to the board" - if people are sent but don't deserve to be, it is because the chain of command failed to take 10 minutes to write a counseling statement or lacked the intestinal fortitude to tell someone that they suck).

Things that give you promotion points are military schools (Airborne, Ranger, Air Assault, etc.), military awards (AAM, ARCOM, etc.), college credits and military correspondence courses (these are too easy to do - it's all online now), qualification score, PT score, commander's points (any good commander maxes their soldiers on this, otherwise don't send 'em to the board!), and the board points. The board consists of the 1SGs in the battalion and the CSM, and they will assess your uniform and ask you questions about leadership, regulations, training, etc. The best CSM I ever had had soldiers report in full kit and inspected their tie-downs and adherence to the BN SOP instead of the full monkey suit (dress greens/Class As). What you'll find is that infantrymen, especially those in the Airborne and Ranger BN tend to get promoted faster because they get more military schools, have higher PT and qual scores, and will usually have chains of command that reward them with awards for good performance.

Since your interests are guns, I think that the infantry or cav scout is your best place to get high speed training and be able to fire a lot of rounds. Do you want to enlist active duty or are you thinking about going guard and doing college at the same time (minus when your unit deploys to OIF/OEF)? I'd say they're advantages to both, depending on what you want out of your time.

[sniperdude411]

I'm going active-duty all 30 years.
My current intelligence and smartness on the field should some what makeup for college.
So you're stiil in the Army, Shek?
I've been told that the retirement plan is now 100% for 30 yrs. I cannot make sure of that quickly because the person I talked to is currently stationed in Alaska.

[Shek]

I'm going active-duty all 30 years.
My current intelligence and smartness on the field should some what makeup for college.
So you're stiil in the Army, Shek?
I've been told that the retirement plan is now 100% for 30 yrs. I cannot make sure of that quickly because the person I talked to is currently stationed in Alaska.

No, it's 75% for 30.
http://www.armyg1.army.mil/RSO/csb_r...yPlanJAN04.doc

Also, please don't imply that college makes you smart or is the best way to get ahead in the Army. If There's plenty of smart people in the Army who haven't gone to college and plenty of people in the Army who have gone to college and aren't smart. My 1SG was very intelligent and knowledgeable and had little to no college credits. He plans on retiring to Oklahoma and fishing and golfing, and to do that, he can live off an E8's retirement check (a house that will cost him $150K in his hometown will cost $500K in the Washington DC metro area). However, he'd sail through college if he wanted to get a degree. Also, his wife makes decent money and she'll continue to work.

However, even if you plan to stick around for 30, do yourself a favor and take courses while you are in so you can earn your degree while you're in. You'll earn promotion points which will help you towards making E5 and E6, and it's always good to have something to fall back onto if you have a change of heart or an injury that prevents you from staying in. Plus, you get tuition assistance (TA) while taking courses at your local education center, so that's less money form your GI Bill that you need to use in the future.

Do you want to go Infantry? Airborne? Ranger? If you've got questions, let me know.