The following is an extract from the Book Company Command the Bottomline
Day One with Your 1SG—Initial Counseling
The most important meeting with your 1SG is the one that takes place immediately after you assume command. This is the ideal time to perform your initial counseling with the 1SG. There is a high probability that your battalion commander will want to see a draft of your initial counseling prior to you assuming command. This will be for two reasons. The first reason is that it is his or her way of emphasizing the importance of counseling as a developmental tool for organizations and for individuals. In essence, what gets checked, gets done. Your battalion commander will definitely check you in this area even if it occurs after you assume command. If you start having problems in your organization, you can bet there will be a close look at what you have done with counseling. Furthermore, the 1SG oversees the unit counseling program; therefore, you set the standard when you properly counsel the 1SG. Historically, many commanders fail to counsel their 1SGs so you can bet that when a 1SG get a counseling statement from you, they immediately assume (and rightly so) that you are serious. Great first impression.
