My Experiences as First Sergeant

[Hansmeister]

Well, the last few months have certainly been interesting.  When I started in January I only had one other full-timer, a motor pool Sergeant, and five Reservists.  I still have only that single other full-timer (instead of the total 5 we're supposed to have), but we're up to about 75 Reservists now.  We got quite a mix of former active duty Soldiers, some who have been out of service for a decade or more, several transfers from the rather poorly managed MP Battalion from whom we're taking over the building (they used to run Abu Ghraib), and Soldiers who are still in High School.  My Reservist Commander shares my views on how our company should be run and leaves me free reign to shape it the way I want it, which makes me happy, of course.  Alas, I already had one new Soldier come up hot on a piss test for cocaine so he'll be a goner, and I just found out that one other Soldier forged a letter to her employer as coming from our unit so I'll now have to pursue legal action.

We don't have much equipment yet, though we should start receiving significant amounts in the following weeks.  At too many reserve units people sit around doing nothing during Battle Assembly, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction.  I've been doing country briefings every drill, combined with guest speakers, in addition to training Soldiers in basic tasks as well as the numerous mandatory briefs.  Not only has that kept my troops happy, but bored Soldiers from other units have wandered into our briefings and decided en mass to switch to us when possible (most of course don't meet the requirement for our field.

I'm taking ownership of the entire Reserve facility as the other units are currently moving out to anoter facility at the other end of the city.  As the senior person I'm now in charge of all four buildings of this complex (I'm already pushing for some major modifications.  Overall, a very satisfying experience and an unique challenge.

Oh, I've also been invited to give another speech at the John Locke Foundation, this time on the election in Iran on Jul 13.  I'll post a link to the video when it's done.

[Monoriu]

So what is the purpose/mission of your unit? 

[Razgovory]

So what is the purpose/mission of your unit? 

Undermine our government.

[Grey Fox]

So what is the purpose/mission of your unit? 

Beat the Chinese up when they show up.

[HisMajestyBOB]

So what is the purpose/mission of your unit? 

Same as any other government org - justify its existence and its budget.

[alfred russel]

So what is the purpose/mission of your unit? 

Have you forgotten the psyops creed Hans posted? It is all in there.

Throughout history, in war and peace, I have played many roles.
I am inspiration.
I am motivation.
I am intimidation.
I am deception.
I am...PSYOP.

I was the inspiration for Hannibal to take his elephants over the Alps.
I was the motivation in the words "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" and "Remember the Alamo".
I was the intimidation of the sound of Gideon's trumpets.
I was the deception used against the Trojans.
I was and I am...PSYOP. 

I rode with Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan and Sun Tsu.
I saw action in both World Wars and in Korea and Vietnam.
I helped bring a speedy victory in Just Cause and Desert Storm.
I brought the hope of peace to Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan
I was and I am...PSYOP.

I was the "talking tanks" asking the Nazi soldiers, "why die for a lost cause?"
I was the leaflet which told the Japanese to "Cease Resistance".
I was the Commando Solo broadcasts to the Taliban warning them that,
"we will destroy those who harbor terrorism.
I was and I am...PSYOP.

I bring the light of truth where before lay the darkness of lies.
I deliver hope to those who are in despair.
I bring fear to those who believe their actions are without consequence.
I was and I am...PSYOP.

I am that voice that tells the enemy to surrender or die.
I am the shadow of doubt that makes the enemy question their actions.
I am that power of influence that despots despise.
I was and I am...PSYOP.

I am the broadcast of reason over radio, television and loudspeaker.
I am the light of truth in print media, leaflet, newspaper, handbill or poster.
I am the force multiplier that wins my country's wars.
I was, I am and I will forever remain...PSYOP.

[HisMajestyBOB]

If you replace PSYOP with Batman it sounds much cooler.

[jimmy olsen]

If you replace PSYOP with Batman it sounds much cooler.

True

[Siege]

So what is the purpose/mission of your unit? 

Its called Task & Purpose, as found in the second paragraph of an operational order (Oporder).

[Siege]

Hans, congratulations in making 1SG.
Did you get promoted to E8 or are you an E7 acting as 1SG?

And when are you going to the sandbox?

[Hansmeister]

Hans, congratulations in making 1SG.
Did you get promoted to E8 or are you an E7 acting as 1SG?

And when are you going to the sandbox?

I'm an E7 actngas a 1SG.  The 1SG slot is coded as a Reservist position, so I can't be promoted into it.  Since I'm the only senior NCO in the Company and will be so probably for years to come.  I'm actually up for E8 but will decline if offered promotion since all AGR E8 positions in my MOS are on Staff, and I've had enough of that.  As far as deployment we haven't been slated yet and can't be technically slated until mid-September since we don't officially exist yet (our activation is on Sep 16).  My guess is by the end of next year.  I just hope we don't get cut up to fill out other units battle rosters.

[Siege]

Hans, congratulations in making 1SG.
Did you get promoted to E8 or are you an E7 acting as 1SG?

And when are you going to the sandbox?

I'm an E7 actngas a 1SG.  The 1SG slot is coded as a Reservist position, so I can't be promoted into it.  Since I'm the only senior NCO in the Company and will be so probably for years to come.  I'm actually up for E8 but will decline if offered promotion since all AGR E8 positions in my MOS are on Staff, and I've had enough of that.  As far as deployment we haven't been slated yet and can't be technically slated until mid-September since we don't officially exist yet (our activation is on Sep 16).  My guess is by the end of next year.  I just hope we don't get cut up to fill out other units battle rosters.

That sucks. You should get the promotion and stay in charge. You certainly have the knowledge and time in service. Why is it taking that long to deploy? I thought your kind of unit were always attached to a brigade HQ or higher, and thus deploy with the parent unit, no matter how long your unit have been actually manned.

I hope you get Aghanistan. The war in Iraq is over. We are just supporting the IA over there. They are the ones knocking down doors these days. It is nothing like it used to be a year ago. Me, I'm going back to Iraq, to waste an entire year of my life doing nothing in some stupid FOB, while there is a real war going on in Afghanistan.

[KRonn]

Good stuff Hans, seems you're doing a good job there. Yeah, post your next talk a the Locke foundation. Those are interesting.

Good that you're keeping people busy too. When I was a reservist I was in an active patrol plane squadron. We usually had stuff to do on our weekend duties, aircraft maintenance or training. But sometimes nothing much to do if maint was done or the planes were flying/deployed. and that was worse than having something to do. Most of us preferred being useful, not feeling like wasting time or tax payer money. Some other reserve units seemed to have meetings more so than work to do. I was in one such unit briefly, and glad to get into something more active with the base sub hunter patrol squadron.

[Valmy]

Sounds Good Hans knock those Reservists into shape.

I thought the John Locke foundation was primarily concerned with advancing classically liberal domestic policies?  It will be interesting to hear how that relates to the Iraqi elections in your speech.

[Hansmeister]

That sucks. You should get the promotion and stay in charge. You certainly have the knowledge and time in service. Why is it taking that long to deploy? I thought your kind of unit were always attached to a brigade HQ or higher, and thus deploy with the parent unit, no matter how long your unit have been actually manned.

I hope you get Aghanistan. The war in Iraq is over. We are just supporting the IA over there. They are the ones knocking down doors these days. It is nothing like it used to be a year ago. Me, I'm going back to Iraq, to waste an entire year of my life doing nothing in some stupid FOB, while there is a real war going on in Afghanistan.

We get attached to a Division, with elements sliced all the way down to the maneuver battalions.  Currently there are only five PSYOP qualified Soldiers in the unit (including myself), we won't get most of our equipment until next summer and we got a dozen Soldiers who wont graduate High School until next year.  So we're a long way from being ready.  I've been working on the training schedule for next year and it is hard to squeeze all the training you need to be functional in a single FY.  No wonder so many Reserve units are fucked up.  It's so easy to simply let things slide because there is no supervision and the full-timers so junior in grade.  Real training requires a lot of planning so it is easy to just wing it and do the minimum to keep the stats looking good.