[RetiredArmy]

I once had a first sergeant, in formation, state: I run this company, not him, referring to the CO, who was standing behind the formation. The CO said nothing either. The First Shirt was 6 foot 7, weighted about 300 pounds. The CO was maybe 5-10, 175. No argument there! But, 1SG Ellsworth, we nicked named him "the bear" was one mean SOB, demanded perfection, took no BS, tough on the NCOs, demanding they do their jobs, take care of the troops, take no crap, and made the enlisted folks walk a straight line, or you answered to HIM. Best danged 1SG I ever had. We lost him when he made Command Sergeant Major and left the company. Got a dud replacement.

[speed_addiction]

1SG Nichols was loud, gruff and mean as a snake. But through that rough demeanor was an obvious love of his soldiers. He took great delight in cooking our eggs for us on Sundays when we were in the field. He always brought coffee out to us when we were manning the SAWs out on the perimeter. But if you screwed up, you felt his wrath and it was not pretty.

He disciplined the troops himself, off of the books. You just came into his office and threw three dice and that was your days of extra duty for the 1SG. Should he resign himself that you were a lost cause, he would send you see the CO. There you had no repreive because the CO knew that the 1SG was tired of dealing with you.

Any soldier in the Company would walk barefoot across broken glass to drag that man out of enemy fire and we had no doubt he would do the same for us (though in his gruff way he would probably be cursing us while he did it).