Military Police

You are the new MP on the road. The badge is real, the authority is real, and you have not earned the trust to use either without your TL watching every move.

You ride with a senior MP on patrol — gate duty, traffic stops, incident response, PMCS on the patrol vehicle — and you do not freelance. Most of your first year is learning the installation's geographic pattern, the Standard Operating Procedures for escalation of force, and how to write a DA 3975 (military police report) that the Operations desk does not kick back. You run the Portable Breath Test on suspected DUI stops under direct supervision, you process detainees to the standards of AR 190-8, and you conduct physical security checks on facilities the installation commander is responsible for. The unglamorous parts are the volume: traffic complaints, noise complaints, barracks checks, and the 0300 domestic disturbance call nobody else wants.

• 01Conduct a traffic stop to MP School standards — approach, contact, control, documentation — and articulate probable cause in writing on the DA 3975.
• 02Operate and interpret a Portable Breath Test (PBT) result under the unit's SOP and AR 190-5 (Motor Vehicle Traffic Supervision).
• 03Apply escalation of force (EOF) procedures from verbal commands through show of force to use of force — and document every step before you close the incident.
• 04Process an apprehended individual in compliance with AR 190-8 and the UCMJ — rights advisement, chain of custody, proper handcuffing and search technique.
• 05PMCS the patrol vehicle to the operator's -10 TM standard — oil, fluid levels, lights, radios, first aid kit, accountability of all MP equipment before the shift.
• 06Qualify on the M17/M9 pistol and M4 carbine to established range standards — the weapon is always on your hip and the range cadre notices who treats qualifications as a formality.

• —AR 190-5 — Motor Vehicle Traffic Supervision (the authority behind every traffic stop on a military installation).
• —AR 190-8 — Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees and Other Detainees (detainee handling doctrine).
• —AR 190-14 / TC 3-20.31 — Carrying of Firearms and Use of Force (EOF authority and escalation policy).
• —AR 190-11 — Physical Security of Arms, Ammunition, and Explosives (you enforce this on every facility check).
• —DA PAM 190-56 — The Army Police Patrol (the how-to reference for patrol operations and report writing).
• —UCMJ / Manual for Courts-Martial — you are enforcing this; you must know what it says about the offenses you process.

• —MP School graduate from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri — the 31B AIT pipeline (roughly 20 weeks) that includes law enforcement, patrol operations, detainee handling, and combat support.
• —ACFT 500+ to be left alone; 540+ to start getting noticed for the next gate or patrol position with more responsibility.
• —Qualify Expert on sidearm every cycle — the weapon is on your hip every shift and the unit MP desk reads the qual roster.
• —DA 3975 (Military Police Report) completed accurately and on time — Operations desk turnaround standard is your performance baseline.
• —Physical security check completion rate at or above the shift standard — missed checks are documented and the Provost Marshal reads the log.

• —Writing a DA 3975 with conclusions instead of observations. "Subject appeared intoxicated" without PBT result, field sobriety notes, and specific behavioral observations is not a report — it is an opinion the JAG office will destroy.
• —Skipping the rights advisement (Article 31 / Miranda equivalent) before questioning a suspect. The case gets thrown, the PMO looks incompetent, and your name is on the report.
• —Treating PMCS as a formation ritual. The vehicle that breaks down on a call at 0200 had an oil-pressure issue at the start of shift and the operator did not write it up.
• —Using force that outpaces documented escalation. Every step between verbal command and physical control must be in writing before the incident is closed — not reconstructed afterward.
• —Losing chain of custody on evidence. The MP Report is only as good as the evidence log — one gap and the case collapses in summary court-martial.

The good PFC 31B is the MP the Desk Sergeant calls when a situation is escalating because they know they'll get accurate reporting and clean escalation-of-force documentation — not a use-of-force incident that generates a week of paperwork. By month nine the TL is letting them take the lead on traffic stops; by month eighteen the PMO is asking about their BLC slot and the Provost Marshal knows their name.

You are the proficiency floor of the MP section. The new privates copy how you approach a stop, write a report, and handle a soldier who has had the worst night of their life.

You run patrol as the primary officer — traffic enforcement, incident response, gate access control, facility checks — and you are the section's institutional memory on the installation's problem spots. If you are Corporal-pinned you are running a two-MP element on shift: you give the brief, you assign the sectors, you make the initial force decisions, and you write the shift summary for the Operations desk. If you are still SPC, you are the senior technician — the one who can run the PBT and the field sobriety test independently, process an EPW packet to AR 190-8 standard, and write a DA 3975 the chain signs without corrections. You also start supporting CID investigations in your lane: preserving scenes, collecting statements, maintaining chain of custody on evidence the Special Agents will eventually need.

• 01Brief a two-MP patrol element on shift assignments, incident priorities, communication plan, and escalation thresholds — and debrief at end of shift with lessons for the next element.
• 02Conduct a standardized field sobriety test (SFST) and PBT to AR 190-5 standards, document all observations, and brief the chain on probable cause for apprehension without coaching.
• 03Preserve and process a crime scene — initial security, scene documentation, photography, evidence collection, chain-of-custody log — to a standard a CID Special Agent will not have to redo.
• 04Process an EPW or detainee intake to the AR 190-8 standard — biometrics, personal property inventory, rights advisement, medical screening, disposition routing.
• 05Operate the installation's law enforcement systems — LE database queries, NCIC/NLETS terminal operation, BOLO management — and know what you are and are not authorized to access.
• 06Conduct a vehicle search with or without consent, to the Fourth Amendment framework applicable on military installations — articulate the authority basis in writing before you write the report.

• —AR 190-5 — Motor Vehicle Traffic Supervision (DUI enforcement authority and standards).
• —AR 190-45 — Law Enforcement Reporting (the authority behind the DA 3975 and all LE records).
• —AR 190-8 — Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees and Other Detainees.
• —AR 190-30 — Military Police Investigations (the doctrinal foundation for the investigative support work you do for CID).
• —UCMJ — Articles 77 through 134 (the offenses you process daily; know the elements of the ones you actually charge).
• —ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership (you are the NCO standard now; the regulation is real).

• —BLC / Basic Leader Course slot before the SGT board — your squad leader should not have to fight for it.
• —Expert on sidearm and rifle every cycle; the PMO leadership reads the range roster and the Provost Marshal briefs it quarterly.
• —DA 3975 turnaround on shift standard — no reports sitting more than 48 hours without supervisor sign-off.
• —Zero evidence chain-of-custody breaks in cases you processed — one break is a conversation with the Provost Marshal; two is the CID Commander's office.
• —ACFT 540+ minimum; Air Assault or Airborne if your unit is BCT-attached — the MP Company's HHC CSM reads the schools roster.

• —Running a field sobriety test without documenting each component separately. Omitting one SFST element gives the JAG office the angle to challenge the entire stop at summary court.
• —Passing a crime scene to CID without a written hand-off log. The Special Agent will take the scene, the case will close, and if something went wrong you will hear about it long after.
• —Accessing LE databases for a query that is outside your shift's active case load. NCIC/NLETS are audited; unauthorized queries generate IG complaints and PMO-level investigations.
• —Skipping BLC because "the school slot is always next quarter." Slots evaporate. Your sergeant board does not reschedule.
• —Letting your use-of-force documentation lag behind the incident. Reconstruct a use-of-force report 72 hours later and see how much the JAG office trusts your memory.

The good Specialist 31B is the MP the Operations Desk sends to the messy calls — the domestic disturbance with a weapon present, the EPW processing at 0300, the crime scene that CID is 45 minutes out from — because they know the report will be clean, the evidence will be intact, and the use of force, if it happened, will be documented accurately. The good Corporal is the one whose partner's reports look better after three months of working together.

You are an NCO with a badge. The law enforcement authority does not make you a cop — it makes you an NCO who is held to the cop standard plus the Army NCO standard simultaneously.

You supervise a two-to-four MP element on shift or you run the section's specialty function — traffic accident investigation, physical security, detainee operations, or combat support planning for a BCT-attached MP company. You write counselings on the 14th of every month, you review every DA 3975 your soldiers produce before it goes to the Operations desk, and you brief the Watch Commander on shift status at the start and end of every rotation. You handle use-of-force incidents first — you are the supervisor on scene, you write the supervisory use-of-force report, and you make the initial determination on whether the chain needs to be notified immediately. In a BCT-attached MP company, you support the S2/S3 on route assessment, area security operations, and internment/resettlement planning under AR 190-8.

• 01Write a supervisory use-of-force report that is legally defensible, factually complete, and in the Operations desk's hands before the shift ends — not the next morning.
• 02Conduct a traffic accident investigation to the post-accident investigation standard: scene documentation, diagram, witness statements, vehicle damage notation, drug/alcohol screening, and DA 3975 to close the case.
• 03Brief a patrol element's OPORD for a combat support mission — route reconnaissance, TCP (traffic control point) setup, convoy escort, detainee handling — using the five-paragraph format to the unit SOP.
• 04Write a clean DA 4856 counseling for an MP soldier who had a use-of-force incident — factual, specific Plan of Action, signed before the soldier leaves the office.
• 05Manage a shift's evidence room accountability — every piece of evidence in, every piece of evidence out, chain-of-custody log current, no breaks that trigger a PMO investigation.
• 06Run a detainee operations cell to AR 190-8 standards — in-processing, medical screening, biometrics, rights advisement, property inventory, facility compliance, disposition routing.

• —AR 190-8 — Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees and Other Detainees (own this cover-to-cover at SGT).
• —AR 190-45 — Law Enforcement Reporting; AR 190-30 — Military Police Investigations.
• —FM 3-19.1 — Military Police Operations (the operational framework for MP in combat support, area security, and I/R).
• —AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy (SHARP / EO / leadership accountability — you enforce it in your element).
• —AR 600-8-10 — Leaves and Passes; AR 600-8-19 — Enlisted Promotions (you sign these now).
• —TC 7-22.7 — The Army NCO Guide; ADP 6-22 — Army Leadership.

• —BLC graduate; ALC packet built and ready when the slot drops — your BN CSM is watching the SGT-to-SSG school pipeline.
• —Supervisory use-of-force reports submitted before end of shift, every time — one late report triggers a PMO SOP review with your name on it.
• —ACFT 560+ as the floor; your soldiers do not respect a patrol supervisor who fails the test they have to pass.
• —Counseling in writing on the 14th — every MP you rate, every month, in iPERMS with a signed Plan of Action.
• —Section's DA 3975 rejection rate at or below the Provost Marshal's quality standard; error patterns by soldier tracked and corrected inside the section, not at the Operations desk.

• —Counseling soldiers verbally after a use-of-force incident. If it is not in writing — factual, specific, dated, signed — it did not happen and the PMO cannot defend you when the IG inquiry lands.
• —Letting a junior MP write a DA 3975 you have not read before it goes to the Operations desk. Your name is on the supervisory line; the errors are yours.
• —Confusing arrest authority with unlimited force authority. Article 7 of the UCMJ authorizes apprehension; it does not authorize force beyond what is objectively reasonable — and a SGT who cannot articulate that distinction on the stand loses the case and possibly their stripe.
• —Hiding a use-of-force concern from the Watch Commander to let a soldier "sort it out." The PMO finds out; the delay makes it worse.
• —Running an evidence room without a daily reconciliation log. One unlogged item in the wrong case file generates an investigation that eats the entire section's schedule for a month.

The good Sergeant 31B is the patrol supervisor the Watch Commander puts on the shift that has the worst geographic area and the most complex pending case load — because their reports are clean, their use-of-force decisions are sound, and their soldiers are getting better at both. Their section's DA 3975 rejection rate is the lowest in the company, their counselings are in iPERMS on time, and when CID calls with a question about a scene their soldiers processed three months ago, the answer is in the evidence log.

You run a shift or a specialty section. The Provost Marshal signs the report; you make sure everything in it is true before it reaches that desk.

You serve as Watch Commander for a shift — the senior MP on the floor, the decision-maker on use-of-force incidents, the supervisor who calls the Provost Marshal at 0300 when something serious happens — or you run the MP company's specialty section: physical security, combat support, detainee operations, or the crime prevention office. You write four-to-five NCOERs per cycle. You brief the Provost Marshal on shift status, incident trends, and personnel readiness. In a BCT-attached MP company you support the S2/S3 at battalion level: area security assessments, route clearance coordination, TCP planning, and internment/resettlement rehearsals. You also build the section's QTB input — training plan, school pipeline, individual readiness — and defend it at the company BUB.

• 01Run a Watch Commander shift brief and debrief — personnel accountability, pending cases, facility status, equipment readiness, open use-of-force reports, communication to incoming shift — in 20 minutes without losing anything.
• 02Make a real-time use-of-force call as the senior supervisor on scene: interview the involved MP, separate witnesses, preserve evidence, make the initial notification decision to the Provost Marshal, and have the supervisory report done before the shift ends.
• 03Build the company's physical security inspection plan for the installation's critical facilities — DA Form 2806 (Physical Security Inspection Report) to AR 190-13 standard, findings prioritized, gap-closure timeline in the report.
• 04Develop a Quarterly Training Brief (QTB) input for the section — METL-aligned, realistic resource bids, school pipeline tracked, individual training records current.
• 05Mentor your three patrol NCOs on use-of-force law, report writing standards, and how to counsel soldiers who are struggling with the mental health weight of what MPs see on shift.
• 06Brief a battalion S2/S3 on route security assessment or area security posture in the BCT AO — five-paragraph format, graphics, threat-to-mission analysis the battalion can act on.

• —AR 190-13 — Physical Security (the authority behind the facility inspection mission).
• —AR 190-8 — Detainee and EPW Operations; FM 3-19.1 — Military Police Operations.
• —AR 190-45 — Law Enforcement Reporting; AR 190-30 — Military Police Investigations.
• —AR 350-1 — Army Training and Leader Development (you build training to this).
• —AR 623-3 + DA PAM 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System (you write NCOERs now and the senior rater reads every one).
• —TC 7-22.7 — The Army NCO Guide; ATP 5-19 — Risk Management.

• —ALC graduate; SLC packet built when the E-7 board conversation starts — the MP Corps CW3/CW4 warrant officer path (311A — CID Special Agent) is worth discussing with the Provost Marshal if criminal investigation is your interest.
• —Use-of-force incidents closed with complete supervisory reports before shift end — the PMO's quality standard is your accountability metric.
• —NCOER bullets in action-result-impact format with measurable outcomes: DA 3975 rejection rate, use-of-force incident resolution time, section training completion percentage.
• —ACFT 560+ minimum; your CSM reads the company aggregate and the Watch Commander's score sets the floor for the shift.
• —Physical security inspection plan executed on schedule; DA Form 2806 reports filed to the Provost Marshal with zero overdue inspections in your section's lane.

• —Letting a use-of-force incident go to the Provost Marshal without a complete supervisory report because "it was a clean stop." There is no such thing as a low-risk use-of-force report to a Provost Marshal who is reading for liability.
• —Writing NCOERs as character references instead of evaluations. The senior rater can spot an inflated NCOER from the first line; the MP who inflates is the one the BN CSM calls when a soldier's career is on the line and the record does not match the performance.
• —Hiding a shift's problem soldier from the Provost Marshal to "handle it internally." The IG complaint from the soldier's victim will not stay internal.
• —Running a physical security inspection as a checkbox exercise. The DA Form 2806 that says "satisfactory" for a facility with an exploitable vulnerability is the report the installation commander reads after the break-in.
• —Skipping the warrant officer (311A CID) conversation if a soldier has the investigative aptitude. CID is a competitive selection and the application window is narrow.

The good Staff Sergeant 31B is the Watch Commander the Provost Marshal trusts to handle the 0200 call without waking them up unless it is actually necessary — because they know the decision will be correct, the report will be complete, and the chain will have everything they need to defend the action in the morning. Their three patrol NCOs are ALC-bound, their section's quality metrics are at the top of the company, and the installation's physical security inspection program is current on every building in their lane.

You are the senior enlisted MP on the installation Provost Marshal Office or in the MP battalion. The Provost Marshal briefs; you make sure the numbers behind the brief are real.

You run the PMO's enlisted side — four to six Watch Commanders, the traffic section, the physical security section, the crime prevention office, the installation pass and ID section — and you are responsible for their training, equipment readiness, and the accuracy of every report going to the Provost Marshal. You operate at installation command level: the Installation Commander's serious-incident brief, the garrison staff BUB, the annual physical security plan. In an MP battalion you serve as the senior NCO for a company or the battalion S3 NCO, planning MP operations in the BCT or division AO — area security, I/R planning, TCP network, route clearance support. You write five-to-six NCOERs per cycle and you brief the Provost Marshal or the battalion S3 on readiness and trends the officer has to be able to defend at the garrison commander level.

• 01Build and defend a Quarterly Training Brief (QTB) for the PMO's enlisted element — METL-tied, resource-bid, personnel status, school pipeline — in language the Provost Marshal briefs at installation command level without rewriting.
• 02Run an annual physical security survey of the installation in compliance with AR 190-13 — plan, execution, gap-closure tracking, Provost Marshal report, follow-up with facility commanders.
• 03Mentor four Watch Commander NCOs into SSG/SFC-board-ready performance — use-of-force law, report quality, counseling discipline, leadership under shift pressure.
• 04Plan and rehearse a detainee / internment-resettlement operation to AR 190-8 standards for the BCT's operational planning cycle — site selection, in-processing drill, personnel inventory, medical support, legal review.
• 05Run a PMO-level serious-incident review: use-of-force timeline reconstruction, witness interview, evidence chain verification, chain-of-command notification package — before the IG or JAG office asks.
• 06Brief the Provost Marshal on law enforcement trends — DUI rates, domestic violence caseload, physical security incident patterns, soldier at-risk indicators — in 10 minutes with data sourced to actual reports.

• —AR 190-13 — Physical Security (you own the annual survey and the gap-closure plan).
• —AR 190-8 — Detainee and EPW Operations (the doctrinal anchor for any I/R mission).
• —FM 3-19.1 — Military Police Operations (the operational doctrinal framework you brief the S3 from).
• —AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy; AR 27-10 — Military Justice (UCMJ enforcement process at the PMO level).
• —AR 623-3 + DA PAM 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System; AR 600-8-19 — Enlisted Promotions.
• —ATP 6-22 series — Counseling and Leader Development; SLC curriculum as reference for what the board expects.

• —SLC graduate; MLC packet built — required for E-8 board competitiveness; consider the 311A CID Warrant Officer path or the Drill Sergeant identifier as the differentiator.
• —Platoon or section ACFT pass rate at or above 95%; PMO leadership reads the aggregate and the Provost Marshal briefs it to garrison command.
• —Installation physical security survey complete on the AR 190-13 schedule — no overdue inspections, no CAT-1 findings that went unreported in your tenure.
• —PMO use-of-force incident reporting closed within 24 hours of incident — trend rate at or below the installation's baseline.
• —NCOERs profile clean — Top Block / Most Qualified rate consistent with the section's actual performance; no inflated evaluations the senior rater cannot defend.

• —Letting a use-of-force trend build in the section without briefing the Provost Marshal. Three incidents in 60 days is a pattern; the IG sees patterns and asks why leadership did not.
• —Confusing patrol supervision with criminal investigation authority. The PMO's lane is law enforcement and security; CID owns the criminal investigation lane. Crossing that boundary without CID coordination creates parallel investigations that collapse each other's cases.
• —Carrying a personal disagreement with the garrison commander's staff into the PMO brief. You are the senior NCO advising the Provost Marshal — if you make it political, the Provost Marshal's credibility with garrison command erodes with yours.
• —Skipping the 311A warrant conversation with a soldier who has the investigative aptitude. CID applications are competitive and the selection window is narrow; the SSG who wanted to apply and didn't because the SFC never mentioned it is the conversation you don't want to have at ETS.
• —Going to garrison command around the Provost Marshal on a law enforcement call. You will be wrong on the lane and the Provost Marshal will find out before you get back to the PMO.

The good SFC 31B is the senior NCO the Provost Marshal sends to the installation commander's BUB because they know the brief will hold up to questions — every number sourced, every trend explained, every gap with a closure date and a name on it. Their Watch Commanders run clean shifts, their physical security program is current, and the MP battalion commander is already asking the garrison command whether they can have them for the next CTC rotation.

You are the standard-bearer for the MP formation. Every soldier in the company or battalion watches whether the law enforcement authority and the NCO standard live in the same person.

As 1SG you run the MP company — 80 to 150 soldiers, the orderly room, the supply room, the Watch Commander rotation, the training calendar, and the boundary between what the commander needs and what the formation can deliver while maintaining twenty-four-hour law enforcement coverage. As SGM/CSM at MP battalion or brigade you advise the battalion or brigade commander on every enlisted decision across the MP force — training, talent management, operational readiness, the serious-incident posture across multiple PMOs, and the 311A CID warrant officer pipeline. You write fewer NCOERs per cycle but the ones you write pick the next 1SG slate and the next Provost Marshal NCO cohort. You brief the division G-1/G-3 on MP battalion readiness and you sit in the Army Provost Marshal General's senior NCO conversation when it matters.

• 01Run a 1SG's call for an MP company that produces actions — accountability, use-of-force incident status, training calendar, discipline, family readiness, finance, equipment — in 30 minutes before the shift changes.
• 02Build a company training and tasking calendar that balances 24-hour law enforcement coverage with METL training, individual schools, and deployment-readiness requirements — and defend it at battalion BUB.
• 03Mentor four Platoon Sergeants and the PMO Watch Commanders as the next 1SG cohort — use-of-force law, report quality, counseling discipline, how to handle a serious incident at 0300 without the 1SG on the phone.
• 04Brief the battalion or brigade commander on MP enlisted readiness, serious-incident trends, law enforcement posture, and the things the commander cannot see from the operations center.
• 05Run a serious-incident review at company or battalion level — timeline reconstruction, evidence chain, witness interviews, chain-of-command notification package — before the IG or JAG office builds a parallel inquiry.
• 06Walk the installation's PMO or the brigade's detachment PMOs and identify the law enforcement and leadership gaps before the Army Provost Marshal General's inspection team does.

• —AR 190-series in full — 190-5, 190-8, 190-11, 190-13, 190-14, 190-30, 190-45 — you are the senior NCO voice on every regulation in the series.
• —FM 3-19.1 — Military Police Operations (the operational doctrinal spine you advise the battalion/brigade commander from).
• —AR 600-20 — Army Command Policy; AR 27-10 — Military Justice (you and the commander own these together).
• —AR 350-1 — Army Training and Leader Development (you build the company or battalion training program to this).
• —AR 623-3 + DA PAM 623-3 — Evaluation Reporting System; AR 600-8-19 — Enlisted Promotions.
• —Army Provost Marshal General publications and the U.S. Army Military Police School senior NCO reading list — the doctrine you consume to advise at echelon.

• —Sergeants Major Academy (SMA) graduate if SGM/CSM-track; Drill Sergeant or Master Gunner identifier or 311A pipeline mentorship record if the SGM-A slate is not your path.
• —Company or battalion ACFT pass rate at or above the installation average — the MP Corps senior NCO corps owns the standard their soldiers hold others to.
• —Zero CAT-1 physical security findings during your tenure attributable to leadership failure in your formation.
• —Serious-incident reporting posture clean — no overdue supervisory use-of-force reports, no evidence chain breaks that escalate to IG, no PMO brief that surprised the installation commander.
• —MP company or battalion senior NCO pipeline producing 1SG-slate-ready SFCs at a rate above the branch average; 311A CID warrant pipeline producing selected candidates.

• —Treating a serious use-of-force incident as a paperwork problem that can be processed before the 1SG's call. The installation commander calls the Provost Marshal that morning and the PMO brief had better be complete before that call.
• —Letting a PMO Watch Commander drift on report quality because "they have good instincts." The instincts that do not produce defensible documentation are the instincts that generate IG investigations.
• —Confusing installation-command relationships with chain-of-command authority. The MP company works for the garrison commander's priorities; the battalion command gives you the MP doctrinal lane. Blurring that boundary creates authority gaps the next Provost Marshal inherits.
• —Treating the 311A CID warrant officer conversation as a retention threat. The MP senior NCO who mentors a sharp SSG into a CID career is the one the Army Provost Marshal General thanks — the one who hoards talent is the one who loses it at the ETS window instead.
• —Appearing at an Army Provost Marshal General's senior NCO forum without a coherent position on use-of-force trends in your formation. You are the institutional voice for the MP enlisted corps at echelon. Know your numbers or do not occupy the seat.

The good 1SG 31B runs a company where the Provost Marshal can be out of the PMO for a week and come back to a shift log, a training calendar, and an NCOER profile that look exactly like they should. The good CSM is the senior NCO the Army Provost Marshal General calls before a policy memo goes out — because they know what is actually happening in the field and they will say it plainly. Their 1SG cohort commands companies that pass inspection. Their 311A pipeline produces agents. Their soldiers reenlist at a rate that proves the company is worth staying in.