Six little words Published March 3, 2008 By Senior Master Sgt. Walter Deason 90th Missile Security Forces Squadron F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- "Shirt, have you got a minute?" Many conversations for a first sergeant start with these six little words. What follows can be anything from "I lost my I.D. card" to "I've lost a family member." No matter the issue, it's important to the individual, and therefore, it's important to their first sergeant. People are our business. Have you ever thought about becoming a first sergeant, but wondered what a day for them is like? First, understand there is no "typical" day in that there is no checklist of items to be done, no set number of items to process and generally no known issues waiting to be solved. Anything and everything an individual Airman may need or is worried about is the first sergeant's typical day. A first sergeant's "routine" day includes any and everything any supervisor deals with, magnified by the number of people in the unit, coordinating with base helping agencies, planning and executing commander's calls, inspecting dorms and anything else you need to do to take care of our Airmen, maintaining discipline, and ensuring our warriors are ready and able to protect the nation and their families. The most important and time consuming item is communication: communicating the needs and intent of the commander to the force and communicating the concerns of the force to the commander. Neither side of this equation is going to like everything that is presented -- and that's okay. Just be honest and professional when communicating. A large part of first sergeant communication is counseling. I've helped someone solve their problems at 2 a.m. when called to the law enforcement desk. Counseling often leads to the next most conducted activity -- liaison and coordination with base helping agencies. Whether it's setting up an appointment for someone to work a budget with Airmen and Family Readiness, working a Tricare issue or calling a local business to sort out a problem, it's still helping people, and people are the first sergeant's business. At times the first sergeant has to set up and issue discipline. On the other side of the coin, the first sergeant sets up promotion and reenlistment ceremonies; when a service member is deployed, they have the honor to notify an arrival of a child; along with the commander, they have the privilege of notifying members of promotion selection; and they just have the thrill of sharing triumphs with their troops. In addition, the first sergeants here were able to provide more than $14,000 this holiday season to help struggling Airmen with their monetary problems. What else may your first sergeant do in a "normal" day? Sometimes mow the yard of a deployed Airman, spend a few minutes (or hours) mentoring a junior (or not so junior) NCO on how to care for Airmen or schedule someone for professional military education. At the end of the day, the shirt goes home to be a wife, husband, father or mother to their family -- until the phone rings or the next person stops in with those six words: "Shirt, have you got a minute?" I've been a first sergeant for going on nine years and I wouldn't trade a minute of it. People are my business.