Earning Your Seat at the Table: A Guide for Junior HR Officers in the Army
In the profession of arms, company-grade Human Resources (HR) Officers often face an uphill battle. Many are thrust into the role of BattalionS1 with limited experience, little confidence, and an incomplete understanding of their responsibilities. Left unprepared, they spend their key development time reacting to crises, trying to learn on the fly, and struggling to balance technical expertise with leadership expectations. This article serves as a practical guide to help junior Adjutant General (AG) officers proactively prepare for the S1 role so they can become indispensable assets to their battalion commanders and trusted members of the staff. The “plan of action” serves as a suggestion to young HR Professionals wanting to make a direct impact on their organizations.
Drawing from a survey of senior Army leaders, this piece outlines five essential qualities that define successful Battalion S1s. The survey initially presented nine general characteristics and allowed leaders to write in additional attributes they deemed necessary. Attributes were internally ordered based on perceived importance and then ranked from one to five based on the frequency of selection. The resulting data, visualized in the graph below, highlights the five traits most frequently identified as critical for success. These attributes are more than best practices; they represent the core competencies required to establish your credibility, build trust with senior leaders, and ultimately earn your seat at the table.
1. Be Technically Competent and Tactically Proficient
Mastery of HR doctrine and systems is non-negotiable. You must understand how to apply Army HR principles across a range of environments, from garrison to combat training center rotations. This includes knowing FM 1-0, ATP 1-0.1, and ADP 6-22, as well as how to operationalize IPPS-A and other HR tools. Just as critical is your ability to provide HR support during tactical operations. That means preparing for personnel accountability, replacement operations, and casualty and postal support, not just in theory but in the mud. Your battalion relies on your knowledge and initiative, especially during the fog of war.
Plan of Action:
Read the key doctrinal texts (e.g., FM 1-0, ATP 1-0.1, AR 600-series) and familiarize yourself with IPPS-A. Insert your shop into field training and sync your SOP with best practices from BDE S1s and S1 Net. Join forums like S1 Net on MilSuite and AG Tube on YouTube for practical, peer-driven learning.
2. Be a Forward Thinker Who Plans for Friction
Success in the S1 shop requires a proactive mindset. Anticipate challenges before they arise. Identify friction points and build contingency plans to avoid burning out, maintain morale, and support mission success. Planning goes beyond garrison activities.
Understanding the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP) is essential. You need to interpret WARNORDs, anticipate personnel shortfalls by phase, and align HR capabilities with the commander’s concept of operations. Without your deliberate input, key gaps in planning, especially for replacements and casualty tracking, go unnoticed.
Plan of Action:
Engage with the BN S-3 section early and regularly. Align your shop’s battle rhythm with unit training cycles. Get comfortable with MDMP by studying ADP 5-0 and always develop multiple COAs for every mission task.
3. Understand Organizational Requirements and Talent Management
People are the Army’s most critical resource. Understanding your unit’s manning priorities down to the MOS and AOC level gives your commander strategic insight
and enables deliberate force structure decisions. It’s your job to explain why key billets may remain unfilled, advise on internal solutions, and ensure the commander’s priorities are reflected in AIM 2 marketplace hiring. Know Army-wide manning trends and help your leaders make data-informed decisions about personnel movements and gaps.
Plan of Action:
Meet regularly with the command team to discuss USR inputs, manning priorities, and AIM 2. Read the latest Manning Guidance and Army G1 updates. Reference books like Laszlo Bock’s Work Rules to sharpen your talent management approach. Align Soldier skills with command intent and narrow talent pools to ease the decision-making burden on leadership.
4. Be a Confident Team Player
Junior officers may hesitate to voice their perspective amid more senior staff, but silence can be costly. You have a unique and essential view of personnel readiness, and leaders want to hear it. Speak, present solutions, and take ownership of outcomes. Don’t run the S1 shop from behinda desk. Walk the footprint, understand the pulse of the formation, and connect with CO CDRs and staff officers regularly. You’re not just a process manager; you’re a leader. Build trust through visibility, communication, and a people-first attitude.
Plan of Action:
Cultivate strong relationships through routine engagements, shop walkthroughs, and collaboration with adjacent S1s. Share lessonslearned and never silo your knowledge. Leadership will value your judgment when it’s backed by firsthand insight and team credibility.
5. Embrace the Title of “Adjutant” with Purpose
Being called the Adjutant isn’t automatic, it’s earned. You must earn the commander’s trust through discretion, initiative, and a deep understanding of both the mission and the people executing it. As the Adjutant, you may manage sensitive matters: the senior rater profile, personnel issues, social functions, and more. Doing this with tact, empathy, and attention to detail will relieve burdens from the Top 5 and allow your commander to focus on higher-order decisions.
Plan of Action:
Ask your commander for their evaluation philosophy and develop a system based on their guidance. Back-brief tasks, flag due-outs early, and communicate friction points quickly with COAs. Be visible at morning formations. When you genuinely care, others will trust and depend on you and the title will follow.
Conclusion: Win as a Team, Lead with Intent
The future of the Army lies in Large-Scale Combat Operations. In that environment, time and information are precious. The S1, who can deliver timely, accurate, and relevant personnel support while building a cohesive and resilient team, becomes a commander’s most valuable advisor. Success in this role hinges on leadership, credibility, and trust. Earn your seat at the table by taking care of your people, mastering your craft, and showing up as the professional your unit needs every single day.
You’re not just managing paperwork. You’re shaping readiness, building teams, and stewarding the Army’s most important asset: its people.
Content provided by CPT Delonte Monk and MAJ Nyeshia Lockett
Captain Delonte Monk is currently an MPM student at Georgetown University. An AGCCC graduate, he is also a General Omar N. Bradley Fellow. His Battalion S1 experience has spanned between the 82nd Airborne Division & and the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
Major Nyeshia Lockett is an upcoming student at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. She is an AGCCC graduate and has served within the Human Resources community at all tactical levels traversing INDOPACOM, USASOC, TRADOC, and FORSCOM.