We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,595,413.28 | Books Available: 785,751 | Members Online: 264

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - Top Sergeant

Top Sergeant
Author: William G. Bainbridge

Beginning with his humble origins as an Illinois farm boy and son of a "dirt farmer," Bill Bainbridge's Top Sergeant is the only memoir of an enlisted man's rise to the most senior NCO position in the U.S. Army. — In a military career spanning more than three decades, Bill Bainbridge saw service in three wars, fought in two of them, and was captu... more »red in one. In France in World War II, Bainbridge served with A Company, 423rd Infantry of the 106th Infantry Division. Forced to surrender during the Battle of the Bulge, he spent five months in a German POW camp, weighing only eighty-six pounds when he was liberated. Discharged in December of '45, he fully expected to spend the rest of his life as a farmer.

But being called up for the Korean War ruined his farming prospects and, in due time, "That peculiar chemistry of training, experience, and promotion began to have its effect, and I realized that I didn't want to be anywhere else but the Army." In thirty-one years of service, Bainbridge served in leading NCO positions the world over, including Battalion Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, II Field Force Sergeant Major in Vietnam, Sergeant Major U.S. Army Pacific, and Basic Training Center Sergeant Major at Fort Benning, where he was instrumental in setting up the first NCO Candidate Course. Bainbridge was also the first sergeant major of the Sergeants Major Academy.

He received ten Good Conduct Medals, two awards of the Combat Infantry Badge, three Army Commendation Medals, and the Distinguished Service Medal, among others. But the greatest moment in his career came when he was selected to be Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army, its highest NCO position, an office he was the first to hold for four years.

But Bainbridge's most important job of his illustrious career was the welfare of his soldiers. Whether in base camps in Vietnam, aviation units in Germany, or training centers in Fort Benning, Bainbridge never forgot what he was there for. "Soldiers will do anything you ask provided you prepare them with good training and treat them with dignity."

Top Sergeant is all about doing what a good sergeant does best--attending to the needs of his men--and what it takes to be a great noncommissioned officer in an Army that officers are proud to command--but that NCOs really run.

From the Hardcover edition.

ISBN-13: 9780517195567
ISBN-10: 0517195569
Publication Date: 11/25/1997
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Random House Value Publishing
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Back to the Top ↑

Search - Top Sergeant

Loading...