Back in the fall we had a unit auction to help beef up our unit fund. I bid on and won a certificate to be First Sergeant for a Day. Well, I kept putting off using it because I just could never find the “right day”. Well, that day was found for me by none other than our First Sergeant. Yesterday he informed me that he would be out of the area tomorrow (which was today) and that I would be the First Sergeant while he was gone. Of course, I thought that I was going to be 1SG WITH him, kind of like a shadow. Yeah, not so much!
So, today I was the acting 1SG for the Band. But my day started yesterday afternoon when I had to prepare some slides for a meeting that I would be attending this afternoon. That took over an hour yesterday, but it really wasn’t too bad. I showed up this morning, stopped by the Commander’s office to see if he had anything for the unit, and headed to the rehearsal hall for formation, clipboard in hand (1SG always has his clipboard with the current day’s appointments and training schedule). I went down the ranks and got accountability from all the Assistant Team Leaders and then headed back up front. I greeted the Soldiers with a hearty “Good Morning” and explained why I was up front. I put out the information that 1SG had tasked me with and asked for announcements from the band. All went well – morning formation really isn’t that difficult.
I got to take off my 1SG “hat” for a little while after making a phone call and following up on some stuff for the Commander, and did a little work in my Admin office (I still had to be me as well) and then headed to ceremonial band rehearsal. After lunch was when the real fun was. I had to attend 2 Battalion level meetings – the quarterly Safety Council meeting and the Battalion Training Meeting. The hardest part about both meetings?? Staying awake. I really should have brought coffee with me. I pretty much just sat and listened and took a few notes. The Commander did all the talking when it was our turn to report.
Overall, it was a pretty easy day as 1SG and I’m really grateful that I was able to have this experience!
And now, back to my normal MPT Leader/Senior Admin NCO/Trombone Player duties. . .
armytbonegirl 