Standards, Discipline, and Training

A Look Across Deployments and Positions

By CSM Abraham Lewis, 1SG Jacob Morash, and 1SG Christopher Stone

Article published on: March 20, 2026 in the Spring 2026 Edition of Infantry

Read Time: < 16 mins

Fort Drum, NY — home of the 10th Mountain Division — is a unique location that allows senior NCOs to develop and enhance their leadership skills in a deployed environment. It is a blessing for those of us who serve as first sergeants (1SGs), providing opportunities to sharpen our leadership knives against the steel of a high operating tempo (OPTEMPO) that is well known across the Army. There are fewer still who get to apply those skills again as a command sergeant major (CSM) within the same battalion. This article attempts to capture the experiences of two 1SGs and a CSM serving in the same battalion a few years apart. These lessons are not just for the operations that are outside of large-scale combat operations (LSCO); they are just as important and pertinent during LSCO as they are a guard against inefficiencies, neglect, and loss of critical skills within the force. These lessons can be applied to any location, theater, or operation within or outside of the continental United States. Our hope is that other 1SGs and CSMs can learn from our collective successes and failures.

Two Deployments for Comparison

Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, deployed to Djibouti, Africa, in September 2017. Our mission was to operate as the quick reaction force (QRF) in support of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the U.S. embassies. During this deployment, the company would operate away from the battalion for six months and again for another month in Ghana. The battalion deployed seven years later in support of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) in November 2024. The Soldiers and leaders of the Chosin Battalion were separated into multiple task forces in various locations in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait. This led to similar necessary conversations amongst the leadership as companies operated away from the battalion. These two different deployments opened the eyes of senior NCOs as to what units can accomplish when they approach any mission with three priorities in mind: standards, discipline, and training the force.

Djibouti, Africa

During the 2017 AFRICOM mission, the Bravo Company command team discussed with battalion leaders how to operate as a company team separated from battalion. The leaders realized the most dangerous part of every mission is not the mission itself but complacency — complacency stems from Soldiers who are idle (as the old saying goes, “idleness is the devil’s playground”).1 To combat complacency within the company, the command team discussed issues the previous unit had faced during its deployment such as legal matters, alcohol abuse, depression, and sexual assaults. Company leaders knew they had to develop some controls so they would not have the same issues. That discussion led to the development of a company policy memorandum that established standards every Soldier would uphold while conducting operations in country. It covered timelines, uniform standards, expectations during the deployment, and training guidelines. The command published this early in the deployment to assist the platoon leadership in the counseling process.

Another way to reinforce standards and discipline is through training the force. To keep Soldiers actively engaged, the command focused on a training progression that allowed the company to complete team through platoon field training exercises and live fires. According to Army doctrine, if Soldiers do not continue to “achieve or sustain proficiency on every task,” they will lose competence in these skills and become ineffective.2 To prevent this, leaders must prioritize training by assessing training proficiencies, planning short-range through long-range training, executing the training, and then once again assessing Soldiers’ proficiency.3 Developing a training progression accomplished three things. First, the company remained focused and ready for the QRF mission. Second, the company returned to the battalion fully mission ready, and finally, it allowed the platoon leadership to provide input into the training plan and develop it to meet the commander’s intent. Every platoon-level leader provided a thorough training plan, completing each step of the 8-Step Training Model. Having to rely on nothing but company-level leadership allowed the command team time to sit down with every platoon sergeant (PSG) and platoon leader (PL) without any outside distractions to develop and mentor them on training to standard. This built rapport between these leaders and showed the platoon leadership how well-planned training can impact their Soldiers. The second focus was on building opportunities for Soldiers to earn skill badges and to complete college courses.

The company resourced and executed the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB), the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge, and the Desert Commando Course. Leaders also encouraged Soldiers to take college courses by setting aside time for them to attend and looked at other opportunities available to the unit, allowing us to provide better trained and more knowledgeable Soldiers to the operating force with far more experience than you would typically get while in garrison. During our deployment, 24 Soldiers qualified for the EIB, 17 Soldiers earned the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge, and 14 earned the Desert Commando Badge. In addition, 25 Soldiers completed courses in the pursuit of their college degrees or received certificates. As a result of the company’s hard work, we earned a Superior Unit Award and recognition from the joint task force commander.

Operation Inherent Resolve

Seven years later, 1-32 IN deployed in support of OIR. The battalion headquarters with Attack Company (rifle company), Havoc Company (headquarters and headquarters company), and Ice Company (forward support company [FSC]) deployed to Al-Tanf Garrison (ATG) in Syria. Battle Company (rifle company) deployed as the aerial response force stationed out of Erbil, Iraq, along with Dog Company (anti-tank company). Finally, Combat Company (rifle company) resided at Northern Landing Zone, Syria, with a mechanized platoon as part of its force as security in and around the area. Before the deployment, the battalion command incorporated lessons learned from the 2017 AFRICOM mission and focused again on standards, discipline, and training.

A 1SG’s Perspective

Soldiers understand their daily job expectations. The experience of basic training and the desire to impress the members and leaders of their unit typically drive them to be aware of military bearing and adherence to standards and regulations. Problems often begin with the relaxing of standards by the direct leadership — the NCOs within the formation. NCOs sometimes fail to understand that character, talked about in the Army Values, requires them to pay attention to the mundane details. When they do, this leads to a unit’s success as much as or more than the organization’s key tasks.4 As NCOs develop during their careers, they become further removed from the eagerness to impress their leaders and rely more on experiences and what they perceive as their reputation. When NCOs relax their personal standards and discipline, their subordinates will do the same. Senior NCOs, such as 1SGs and PSGs, must groom younger NCOs to remember that it is their responsibility to pass on the knowledge of the repercussions of indiscipline in combat. It is the responsibility of senior NCOs to quickly identify when standards are slipping and to correct it before it cascades into massive problems and infractions that could lead to harming Soldiers or the unit.

Good order and discipline within a unit starts with senior NCOs having presence in their formations and interacting with their junior and mid-grade NCOs on a personal level to identify strengths and weaknesses. A leader professional development (LPD) program will assist junior NCOs and Soldiers in developing their core attributes and competencies. George Washington stated, “Nothing can be more hurtful to the service, than the neglect of discipline; for that discipline, more than numbers, gives one army the superiority over another.”5 Dealing with life’s problems and providing situational training are the best ways to build experience to gain superiority over our adversaries. Prior to deployment, 1-32 IN used the LPD program to focus on Soldier care that solved issues before they became a mission distraction. The mentorship of new NCOs included methods to motivate others, leader interaction techniques, the definition of emotional intelligence and how to use it, and the importance of integrity. These lessons focused on the professional role as NCOs and their responsibility to enforce standards, regulations, and discipline.

In addition to LSCO-related training conducted during a Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) rotation, the battalion also developed their NCOs during multiple situational training exercises (STX) meant to stress the NCOs, preparing them for the upcoming deployment. This training was vastly different from the LSCO training for a light infantry battalion, focusing on vehicle patrols to account for the formation’s limited resident knowledge of vehicle gunnery and tactics. The gunneries and field training exercises built confidence and competence in junior and mid-grade NCOs and instilled discipline through vehicle layouts, tiedowns, and patrol briefs.

Despite the training, there were multiple challenges with enforcing standards and discipline that were outside of the battalion’s control. Various units and enablers — active, National Guard, and Reserve — coexisted on ATG, all of which brought various perspectives on standards and discipline. The in-brief given upon arrival to ATG attempted to diminish the effects, but multiple personnel outside of the battalion began to lose military bearing and discipline through relaxing uniform and other military standards. These different standards on the combat outpost created confusion among the Soldiers working within close proximity of each other. To overcome this, Attack Company, Havoc Company, and Ice Company held a squad/section leader and PSG town hall to address issues and ensure NCOs were enforcing standards with the General Military Authority (GMA) they possess, regardless of unit. The intent was to bring cohesion to ATG through discipline. As three of these units enforced the proper standards, members of the other tenant units noticed their example and improved their standards to match the battalion.

Good order and discipline within a unit starts with senior NCOs having presence in their formations and interacting with their junior and mid-grade NCOs on a personal level to identify strengths and weaknesses.

Simple things like creating manning cycles also assisted in reinforcing discipline. Setting a battle rhythm for patrol, QRF, and security force (SECFOR) cycles created predictability and a shared understanding within the rifle company. Some disciplinary issues occurred during guard shifts in regards to improper pre-combat checks (PCCs) and pre-combat inspections (PCIs), but the leaders fixed this by implementing a proper guard mount, checking for guard requirements and serviceability of equipment. The 1SG and PSGs also spot checked the guard daily to keep Soldiers vigilant, correct shortcomings, and prevent complacency. Through these spot checks, the senior NCOs could also gain Soldiers’ unique perspectives on ways to make their guard position better, ensure Soldiers were aware of current operations within their area of operations, and identify other personal and professional issues.

The company leadership used spot checks during different platoon patrols to maintain their presence. They went out weekly with a platoon to validate that Soldiers were gathering the correct priority intelligence requirements (PIRs) and ensure the patrols were operating within the commander’s intent. It also allowed the command to check on Soldier discipline by monitoring simple things such as seatbelt, gunner restraint, and electronic defeat system usage. The command emphasized that Soldiers must understand that discipline is a constant regardless of mission or location. Other small measures, such as ensuring all personnel wore full personal protective equipment (PPE) during ramp briefs, PCCs, and PCIs, ensured that they were focusing on the mission.

Finally, developing a unit training plan for the company helped give the company more purpose than just doing the daily grind of patrol, QRF, and SECFOR. The PLs and PSGs achieved buy-in through providing input on training, and the command would influence their plans by adding to the training guidance. The company command directed NCOs to instruct quality training utilizing the 8-Step Training Model. They captured the training model in concept of operations (CONOP) sketches, placed them in the short-range training calendar in Outlook, and then pushed them to the Soldiers. This gave Soldiers a by-the-hour schedule for each day that included training and operational tasks, helping ensure the company utilized its time effectively. This training not only sharpened the Soldiers but kept them gainfully employed, preventing acts of indiscipline along the way.

A CSM’s Perspective

Having served as a 1SG and a CSM within the same battalion during deployments provided a contrast between each position and the responsibilities held. It helped compare what proved successful in one position and to test if that translated to the next position. The battalion command team worried about keeping Soldiers focused on the mission. There were multiple candid conversations on discipline and if the battalion was ready for the mission due to the large number of Soldiers and leaders without combat experience. The commander provided his guidance about focusing on standards, discipline, and training. Senior NCOs within the battalion were tasked to continuously stress attention to detail in the small things so that the battalion didn’t have to worry about the big things. Having a conversation with your commander prior to the deployment on expectations instead of trying to figure it out in the heat of the moment was a critical lesson learned as a 1SG during the Djibouti deployment.

Part of preparing for the position of CSM is to learn from those who are wiser and have been in your shoes. Colin Powell once stated, “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters.”6 The easiest place to begin that habit is to rely on what has been well known since the creation of the U.S. Army: Standards and discipline save lives. Exercising standards and discipline as a CSM is impossible without first convincing your 1SGs why it is important to maintain that discipline even when they feel like they are pushing a boulder uphill with all their Soldiers pushing against it. It is important to begin this conversation early and often as they will find themselves lonely at the top. Encouraging them to cross-talk with other companies will also help them see common threads and gain support from their fellow leaders in the battalion.

Our battalion command started noticing slips in discipline early in the deployment. The first small win was to have an LPD on standards and discipline and the roles of NCOs in the execution of those standards. The class centered around the “History of the NCO” manual published by the Sergeant’s Major Academy. The LPD followed the Socratic method (what is more commonly known today as the adult learning model), where the command asked NCOs a series of questions on why NCOs exist and how the U.S. Army is unique from other military forces in the world. At the end of the LPD, senior leaders gave vignettes of times when standards and discipline contributed to success and others where leaders let them slip and had to deal with the consequences of those actions. These vignettes helped NCOs see why the senior NCO Corps held them to a certain standard and why it was important for them to hold themselves to the same standard. This had not been done during the first deployment, and the battalion found great success among the junior enlisted by employing this method.

The next small win began when the battalion required the companies to add skill level 10 task training into the company training schedules to prepare for expert badge testing: EIB, Expert Soldier Badge (ESB), and Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB) — E3B. This had two separate functions: force Soldiers to pay attention to detail of E3B tasks and therefore continue their development, and second, prepare Soldiers for the E3B that was to occur after the deployment. The first function was the main reason as the command wanted to remind junior and mid-grade NCOs to pay attention to the small details of tasks in the hopes that it would reinforce the same attention to detail in their missions and on their guard shifts. Having PSGs plan and prepare the training schedule with their platoon leader allowed them to focus on the tasks that were most important to them and to their mission that week. It also reduced the amount of time that Soldiers were inactive, which provided behavioral health benefits.

Finally, giving Soldiers the opportunity to obtain foreign awards provided motivation, rewarded excellence, and encouraged Soldiers to go above and beyond. This was a lesson learned from the Djibouti deployment that paid dividends during our OIR mission. The task force afforded Soldiers the opportunity to compete in multiple events such as the Norwegian Foot March and the Schützenschnur. By working with our enablers who felt like part of the team, the battalion was able to execute these events and reward Soldiers for their efforts, which brought a sense of esprit de corps to the task force and to the battalion. It may seem like a small thing, but most Soldiers appreciate getting the proverbial pat on the back or something to add to their uniform. We also used an easy tool, the battalion coin, to assist with creating cohesion with those both inside and outside of our immediate formation. This allowed us to reward Soldiers in the moment and recognize them for their hard work.

One area our battalion could have improved on was paying more attention to platoon and company-level leadership. We focused so much on Soldiers that it created a blind spot in leader actions within the battalion. Keeping a mindful vigilance on rumors and squashing them before they become cancerous are also extremely important, especially in an environment where quarters are tight and tempers can run high. It is important to set strict boundaries and to counsel those who are putting their toes over those lines. The battalion failed to publish a policy memorandum that would have provided those boundaries and set clear communication on the expectations of all Soldiers and leaders. Most of the time miscommunication arose between leaders for inexplicable reasons. We could have fixed this by sitting them in the same room and having them work out their issues to clear up the misunderstanding. Either way, had we paid more attention and caught it earlier, we could have counseled the platoon-level and company-level leaders and prevented these issues from becoming distractions to the mission and loss of key personnel.

Lessons to Take Forward

For those who are in a similar position, our best advice is to listen to the successes and mistakes of others. Not every lesson learned from the first deployment in Battle Company, 1-32 IN led to success as the CSM of 1-32 IN. Some forms of the lessons did translate from one position to the other. Lessons learned included:

- Combat idleness by any means at your disposal, such as, looking outside of your organization for opportunities that you may or may not have at home station. It is necessary to keep Soldiers busy to fight against complacency.

- Develop and adhere to strict guidelines prior to deployment and consistently message through LPDs and discussion. It is through a consistent message that Soldiers will understand the intent and follow it.

- Develop a training regimen through training calendars that keeps Soldiers occupied. Units must maintain training schedules and PT schedules while deployed. About 90 percent of a deployment is uneventful, and we must use the down time to prepare our Soldiers for that other 10 percent by refreshing and sharpening their knowledge on their Level 10 skills. Loosely speaking, it is through standards, discipline, and training that any senior leader can be successful. When we forget to apply it to all personnel, Soldiers and leaders alike, we will find ourselves struggling to fight off the distractions that keep the formation from being the most successful it could be. We hope that other 1SGs and CSMs can learn from the successes and failures of our battalion and apply them to their formation.

Notes