Infantryman

You are the rifleman. The squad runs on your back, your eyes, and your ability to do the boring thing exactly the same way every time.

You carry the SAW or the rifle, pull your sector, and shut up while the team leader runs the lane. Most of your week is weapons maintenance, ranges, sustainment training on the 40 warrior skills, and the unglamorous detail rotation — CQ, staff duty, motorpool, area beautification. Field problems are where the actual job lives: you dig, you sleep cold, you eat MREs, and you execute battle drills until your team leader stops correcting you.

• 01Zero and qualify the M4/M16 on TC 3-22.9 standards — distinguished is the bar to chase, expert is the floor.
• 02Function-check, load, reduce stoppages, and clear the M249/M240/M203/M320 your fire team is built around.
• 03Land nav day and night to the Warrior Skills Level 1 standard — STP 21-1-SMCT task 071-329-1019.
• 04Battle Drill 1 (squad attack), 2 (react to contact), 3 (break contact), 6 (enter and clear a room) from ATP 3-21.8 chapter 5.
• 05Run a CLS-level trauma assessment — MARCH, tourniquet high-and-tight, NCD, hypothermia prevention.
• 06Maintain your kit so it survives a 12-mile ruck — tape, dummy-cord, waterproof what matters, throw out what you do not need.

• —STP 21-1-SMCT — Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks, Warrior Skills Level 1.
• —ATP 3-21.8 — Infantry Platoon and Squad (read chapters 1, 4, and 5).
• —TC 3-22.9 — Rifle and Carbine.
• —TC 3-21.75 — The Warrior Ethos and Soldier Combat Skills.
• —FM 7-22 — Holistic Health and Fitness (your ACFT plan lives here).
• —AR 600-9 — Army Body Composition Program.

• —ACFT 500+ to be left alone, 540+ to start getting noticed for schools.
• —Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) attempt within your first 18 months in the line company — the TLs notice who shows up.
• —Qualify Expert on the M4 every cycle. The badge is on your blouse forever; the slug score is your reputation in the squad.
• —12-mile foot march in under 3 hours with 35 lb fighting load — the Air Assault / EIB standard.

• —Treating weapons maintenance as a formation event. The TL who finds carbon in your bolt at random checks remembers it for your next counseling.
• —Skipping the pre-combat inspection (PCI) checklist because "I had it last time." You did not.
• —Buying expensive gucci kit before you own the issued kit. The IOTV, plates, helmet, and assault pack are graded; your Crye combat shirt is not.
• —Going to sick call only when something is broken. Document the sprain in week one or the VA fights you about it in year ten.
• —Putting headphones in during downtime in the field. You will miss the FRAGO and your squad will hear about it.

The good cherry is invisible the right way: kit squared, weapon clean, sector covered, mouth shut, asking the questions during AAR instead of during the brief. By month nine the TL is letting you run lanes, by month eighteen you are on the short list for the EIB train-up, and by your first re-enlistment window the squad leader is asking what school you want.

You are the senior rifleman and the Team Leader's designated hitter. Corporals run teams; specialists run the work that lets teams run.

You are the proficiency floor of the squad — the new privates copy how you wear your kit, clear your weapon, and brief a sector sketch. If you are corporal-pinned, you are running a fire team for real: PCC/PCIs, sector assignments, casualty plan, comm plan, the small-unit leadership package. If you are still SPC, you are the bench — running the range tower, the radio, the M2 in the turret, the additional duty (arms room, supply, training NCO) that the squad cannot live without.

• 01Brief a fire team OPORD in five paragraphs without notes — situation, mission, execution, sustainment, command/signal.
• 02Run a PCC/PCI as a checklist with real consequences, not a head-nod ritual.
• 03Call for fire to the FM 3-09.30 / TC 3-09.81 standard, even if you are not an FO — the team always needs another guy who can.
• 04Operate the squad-level radios — ASIP/MBITR, SINCGARS, JBC-P — and load CEOI/SOI without a printed cheat-sheet.
• 05Run a M2/M240/Mk19 from a vehicle turret — headspace and timing on the M2 in under 90 seconds in the dark.
• 06Walk a casualty through MEDEVAC 9-line and conduct a TCCC handoff that the medic actually wants to receive.

• —ATP 3-21.8 — Infantry Platoon and Squad (chapters 5 and 6: offense and defense).
• —TC 3-21.76 — Ranger Handbook (the small-unit leadership backbone the entire community quotes).
• —TC 3-09.81 — Field Artillery Manual Cannon Gunnery (the call-for-fire reference).
• —ATP 3-21.71 — Mechanized Infantry Platoon and Squad (Bradley) if you are in an ABCT.
• —TC 3-22.5 — Modern Army Combatives.
• —ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership and the Profession.

• —EIB tab on your blouse — the gate to credibility before you sit a sergeant board.
• —Air Assault and/or Airborne wings if your unit lane supports it. Both schools are pre-sergeant resume builders.
• —ACFT 540+ minimum, 580+ if you are positioning for Ranger or SF assessment.
• —PLDC / BLC (Basic Leader Course) — required to pin sergeant. Get the slot before your squad leader has to fight for it.
• —Be the squad SME on at least one crew-served weapon — owned, not just qualified.

• —Coasting on EIB. The badge gets you in the room; what you do with the M240 at 2 a.m. keeps you there.
• —Skipping the BLC packet because the slot is "probably next quarter." Slots evaporate. Your sergeant board does not move.
• —Running a PCI for new privates without reading their counseling. They are watching whether the standard is real or a paperwork drill.
• —Mishandling a sensitive item — weapon, NVG, radio — even once. The CO knows your name now, and not the way you want.
• —Posting OPSEC-relevant photos. Geotag, unit patch, weapon serial — the Russian and Chinese collection effort is real and your squad pays the price.

The good Specialist is the soldier the squad leader puts on the most important task without thinking — point man on the breach, RTO on the radio, gunner on the bird. The good Corporal is the one whose fire team beats the other fire teams on the ETT lane consistently, and whose privates are squared-away because he counsels them honestly, not because he yells.

You are an NCO now. The first paragraph of the Creed says you are responsible for the welfare and conduct of your soldiers at all times — at all times means at all times.

You own a 4-soldier fire team or you have just been moved up to assistant squad leader. You write counseling statements on the 14th of every month and after every event. You inspect rooms, conduct PT, run a sector during MOUT, and brief your squad leader on the bottom-up readiness of your team — sleep, finances, family, training. You will spend more time on email and DTS than you expect; you will also still be on the line at 0530.

• 01Write a clean, legally defensible DA 4856 counseling — Plan of Action that is specific, measurable, and signed before the soldier walks out.
• 02Run a fire team live-fire as the TL — react to contact, break contact, react to ambush, react to IED — to the ARTEP-MTP standard.
• 03Brief a squad-level OPORD using a terrain model the privates actually understand.
• 04Manage a casualty under fire — TCCC tier 2 (Combat Lifesaver+ behavior, not just card-holding).
• 05Run the squad's pre-combat ritual: rehearsals, drills, comms check, casualty plan, lost soldier plan, before the LT shows up to ask.
• 06Counsel a soldier on a financial problem (predatory loan, garnishment) and walk them to the right S1/Army Community Service office.

• —ATP 3-21.8 — Infantry Platoon and Squad (own this manual cover-to-cover).
• —TC 3-21.76 — Ranger Handbook (the standard small-unit reference for OPORDs, patrol base, and battle drills).
• —AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy (the SHARP / EO / leadership accountability spine).
• —AR 600-8-10 — Leaves and Passes; AR 600-8-19 — Enlisted Promotions and Reductions (you sign these now).
• —ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership; ADP 7-0 — Training (you run training now, not just attend it).
• —STP 21-24-SMCT — Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks, Warrior Skills Level 2-4.

• —Ranger School slot if you are in a light/airborne unit, Sapper if your battalion task-organizes that way — the tab is the visible promotion signal.
• —BLC graduate (required), ALC packet built and ready when the slot drops.
• —ACFT 560+ as a floor — your soldiers do not respect a TL who fails the test they have to pass.
• —Squad ARTEP-MTP "T" rating on the lanes you run as TL.
• —Promotion points stacked: weapons quals, schools, college (CLEP / DSST / TA), correspondence (DLC, structured self-development).

• —Counseling soldiers verbally. If it is not in writing, it did not happen and the company commander cannot defend you.
• —Letting your team smoke their first squad leader inspection because you did not pre-inspect on Sunday.
• —Doing the work yourself instead of teaching the corporal to do it. You will be relieved or your team will fail when you leave.
• —Hiding a SHARP / EO / suicidal-ideation issue from the chain. The unit, the soldier, and your career all need it in the system within 24 hours.
• —Going to the LT instead of the SL with squad-internal problems. The chain runs through your squad leader for a reason.

The good Sergeant is the one the platoon sergeant trusts with the worst soldier in the company because he turns them into a soldier instead of a paperwork problem. His team passes EIB at the highest rate, his counselings are in iPERMS on time, and his squad leader can take leave for a week without the platoon collapsing.

The squad is yours. The platoon sergeant is mentoring you; the LT is leaning on you; the privates do not see the LT, they see you.

You run a 9-soldier squad — three fire teams or two plus a weapons team — and you are responsible for their training, their equipment, their families, and their careers. You build training schedules, sign for serialized gear, conduct quarterly counselings, defend your squad in the OPORD-back-brief, and translate the LT's commander's intent into something privates can rehearse. You will be in the TOC more than you want and on the line less than you remember.

• 01Develop and defend a Quarterly Training Brief (QTB) input for your squad — METL-aligned, resource-realistic, with a clean LOE for your platoon sergeant.
• 02Run a squad LFX (live fire exercise) from concept to AAR — risk assessment (DD 2977), MEDEVAC plan, surface danger zones, and post-fire weapons accountability.
• 03Brief a squad OPORD that the LT does not have to rewrite — graphics, FRAGO discipline, no surprises.
• 04Manage a squad's readiness across the four pillars — personnel, equipment, training, individual training records — and report it honestly in unit-status terms.
• 05Mentor your three sergeants on how to be sergeants. If they leave your squad as bad NCOs, that is on you.
• 06Run a tactical convoy or air assault movement as the senior NCO in the manifest — load plans, comm plan, contingency plan.

• —ATP 3-21.8 + ATP 3-21.10 — Infantry Rifle Company (you operate at company level now too).
• —AR 350-1 — Army Training and Leader Development (you build training to this).
• —ATP 5-19 — Risk Management; DA Form 7566 / DD 2977 — Composite Risk Management Worksheet.
• —AR 600-8-19 — Enlisted Promotions; AR 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System (you write NCOERs now).
• —TC 7-22.7 — The Army Noncommissioned Officer Guide.
• —ATP 6-22.1 — The Counseling Process; ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership.

• —ALC graduate (required), SLC packet ready when promotion to E-7 enters the discussion.
• —Senior Leader Course or equivalent specialty (Ranger, Pathfinder, Master Gunner, Drill Sergeant identifier) — the differentiator on the SFC board.
• —ACFT 560+ minimum; your CSM is watching the squad's aggregate.
• —NCOER bullets on the OFFICIAL achievement list — clean, action-result-impact format, no fluff.
• —Squad EIB / ESB pass rate at or above company average; weapons qualification at or above the line average.

• —Writing the NCOER as a wish-list instead of an evaluation. Senior raters read every one and remember the SSG who inflated.
• —Skipping risk management on the LFX. The CO will not stand by you when a soldier loses a hand and DA 2977 is blank.
• —Letting the senior SGT in the squad run wild because he is "your guy." That is favoritism on the next IG complaint.
• —Allowing weapons / sensitive items accountability to slide on a movement day. One serial number missing eats the company schedule for a week.
• —Hiding squad problems from the PSG to look good. He will find out — usually from the LT, in the worst way.

The good Squad Leader has a squad that performs identically whether he is at sick call or in the TOC. His three SGTs are NCOER-board ready. His soldiers re-enlist, get the school slot, and the company is willing to lose him to the schoolhouse because everyone knows he will come back as the SFC the battalion needs.

You are the senior NCO in a 30-40 soldier platoon. The LT signs. You execute. The CSM watches.

You run the platoon's entire enlisted side — training, evaluations, schools, promotions, discipline, equipment, family readiness. You build the LT into a company commander, you run the platoon when he is in the BUB, and you write four-to-five squad-leader NCOERs per cycle. You operate at company and battalion level — the 1SG and the CO call you by name, the S3 schedules training around your platoon's ability to support, and the CSM evaluates you against every other platoon sergeant in the battalion.

• 01Build a quarterly training plan that survives contact with the S3 calendar — METL-aligned, resource-bid, locked.
• 02Write four NCOERs per cycle that the senior rater can defend at the brigade NCOER review.
• 03Run a platoon collective live fire to the ARTEP-MTP "T" rating — sustainment training, gunnery, lane validation.
• 04Run a CSM-quality sensing session and translate it into actions the LT and CO will fund.
• 05Mentor three SSG squad leaders into SFC-board-ready candidates without losing your edge on your own SLC.
• 06Operate as a company-level acting 1SG — accountability formation, sick call, casualty notification, family readiness, all of it.

• —AR 600-25 — Salutes, Honors, and Visits of Courtesy; AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy (you enforce it).
• —AR 350-1 + DA PAM 350-9 — Training; ATP 7-22.01 — Holistic Health and Fitness Testing.
• —AR 623-3 + DA PAM 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System (your NCOERs go up against every other platoon's).
• —AR 600-8-19 — Enlisted Promotions and Reductions; HRC promotion board policy memos.
• —ATP 6-22.6 — Army Team Building; ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership.
• —TC 7-22.7 — The Army NCO Guide; The Operations Process (ADP 5-0).

• —SLC graduate, MLC packet built — required for E-8 board competitiveness.
• —Ranger / Sapper / Pathfinder / Drill identifier (B4/H8/etc) on your record brief — the visible differentiator.
• —Platoon ACFT pass rate at or above 95%; platoon CTC rotation rating in the upper third of the battalion.
• —Platoon-level zero relievable incidents in your tenure — no negligent discharges, no DUIs you missed coming, no sensitive item loss.
• —NCOER profile clean — Top Block / Most Qualified rate consistent with the platoon's actual performance.

• —Letting one squad leader drift because you trust him. That is the squad the IG inspection will visit.
• —Confusing being "tight" with the LT with being aligned with the LT. The platoon needs you to push back honestly, in private.
• —Carrying a personal feud with a peer PSG into the company. Battalion-level NCOERs notice.
• —Skipping the family-readiness piece because "the spouses run that." You sign the unit status report on family readiness for a reason.
• —Going to the CSM around your 1SG. You will be wrong and you will be relieved.

The good PSG runs a platoon that the battalion CSM is willing to send to the worst rotation because they will not embarrass anyone. His LT gets command-list. His SSGs get SFC. His soldiers get the schools they actually wanted. He is on the short list for First Sergeant before he sits the MLC seat.

You are the standard-bearer for the formation. Soldiers know whether the company is broken or fixed by watching how you stand in formation.

As 1SG you run the company — 100-130 soldiers, four platoons, the orderly room, the supply room, the training calendar, and the boundary between what the CO needs and what the soldiers can deliver. As SGM/CSM you advise the battalion or brigade commander on every enlisted decision and you set the standard for hundreds to thousands of soldiers by what you walk past. You write fewer NCOERs but they are the ones that pick the next 1SG slate.

• 01Run a 1SG's call that produces actions, not anxiety — accountability, sick call, training, discipline, family readiness, finance, in 30 minutes.
• 02Build a company training and tasking calendar that the CO can defend at battalion BUB without surprises.
• 03Mentor four PSGs and the senior staff NCOs as the next 1SG cohort.
• 04Walk the line during a battalion ARTEP and identify the broken systems in the platoons before the OC/T does.
• 05Run a Red Cross / casualty notification with the dignity it requires — you are the face the family sees.
• 06Brief the battalion command team on enlisted morale, retention, and the things they cannot see from the conference room.

• —AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy (you and the CO own this together).
• —AR 600-8-2 — Suspension of Favorable Personnel Actions; AR 27-10 — Military Justice (you are in the room).
• —AR 638-8 — Army Casualty Program (every senior NCO must know this).
• —AR 350-1 + AR 25-2 — Training and Cybersecurity (signed by you as part of the unit's compliance posture).
• —ATP 6-22 series — Counseling, Team Building, Mission Command.
• —The 1SG Course / USASMA / SMA-published reading list — you are now expected to consume doctrine and translate it down.

• —MLC graduate; SMA-Selected for SGM-Academy fellowship if SGM-track.
• —Company UCMJ rate, retention rate, and SHARP/EO climate index in the top tier of the battalion.
• —1SG / SGM Sergeant Major Course completion before competing for CSM slate.
• —Personal NCOER profile that the senior rater can defend at brigade — the bar for command CSM is whether your rated NCOs got selected.
• —Zero senior-NCO-level integrity incidents — financial, fraternization, OPSEC. One ends the career permanently at this rank.

• —Going public with disagreement with the CO. You take the disagreement in the office; you walk out aligned.
• —Confusing seniority with leverage. The Army keeps senior NCOs who serve the formation, not the ones who run their own program.
• —Stopping personal physical training because you are "too senior." Soldiers stop respecting the chevrons when the body stops carrying them.
• —Letting a PSG run a bad climate because he is your guy. Battalion CSM finds out, brigade finds out, and the slate gets read out at the next CSM conference.
• —Confusing the warm-up to retirement with the job. Until you walk out of the formation for the last time, the formation is your job.

The good 1SG / CSM is the senior NCO every soldier in the formation knows by face and reputation. He is the reason a re-enlistment line forms after a hard rotation. The CO trusts him with the worst news at 0200; the soldiers trust him to walk away from a fight he cannot win for them only when he absolutely cannot win it.