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).
Sounds like 1SG Ellsworth. Too damned bad we had more sorry first sergeants than we had good ones. One of the absolute worse I ever had was when I was with the 1/327th, 101st Abn Div (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, KY in 1974-75. Fool was the worse. A drunk. Cared only for his own career and no one else's welfare. He learned I lived near his shackup off post, so he had me start picking him up on my drive in every morning. He did not drive and his shack up always brought him in. That led to him making me hang around at night waiting on him to be ready to go home. I was a squad leader in the 4.2 mortar squad. So, I had to sit around waiting on this fool. Then he wanted to stop at the club and guzzle about 10 beers. I did not drink for fear of DUI. So, here I was sitting in the damned NCO club till 10, 11 at night waiting on this drunk. So, one day, I told my platoon sergeant and platoon leader what was going on. The Plt Leader told the XO. The XO was livid about it. He said the 1SG should not be abusing a lower ranking soldier that way. I had drive this fool around for five or six months. He never bought one gallon of gas. But, heck, I was a young E-5 and afraid of the 1SG and what he could do to my career, put me on all the rotten details, etc. So, in the end, I finally had enough. Later I was reclassified after reinjuring my leg which I had been wounded in Nam in, and left the company. I later learned that the guy got a car of his own and within a month, was involved in a DUI car wreck. Busted and out of the company, relieved for cause, and probably forced to retire. Couldn't have happened to a better guy.
So unfortunately, for every couple of good ones, there are ones like this bast@r*.