Staff Sgt. Sean G. Bailey
Age: 40
Current Position: Section leader
Unit: B Troop, 1st Squadron (Airborne), 40th Cavalry Regiment
Current Location: Afghanistan
Hometown: Scranton, Penn.
Years in Service: 7 years
Spouse: Angela Bailey
Staff Sgt. Sean G. Bailey, a section leader with B Troop, 1st Squadron (Airborne), 40th Cavalry Regiment, credits the Soldiers he leads for making him an outstanding noncommissioned officer.
"I have very high standards, not only for myself, but for my Soldiers as well," Bailey said, adding he was taught to "always raise the bar."
He said he considers the success of his Soldiers to be something to be proud of. "If I had a Soldier today that tomorrow outranked me, then I have done my job as a leader," Bailey said. "Much like a parent, you always want your children to do better than you have."
A good NCO always puts his Soldiers first, he said. "It means placing yourself second to the needs of your Soldiers," Bailey said.
"My phone is never off, my truck fuel tank is always full, and my door is always open Aca,!" not only for the Soldiers in my section, platoon or troop, but for any Soldier in the military."
He said the best NCOs make training tomorrow's leaders a personal priority. "If I do nothing else then properly train the leaders of tomorrow's Army, then I have completed my mission as an NCO," Bailey said. "When I was a squad leader at Fort Bragg, N.C., every Soldier in my Squad re-enlisted, and now they are all NCOs."
Bailey deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003 to 2004, to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom from 2006 to 2007 and has just begun a 12-month deployment to Afghanistan with the 1-40th. He joined the Army in May of 2001 and said he always knew he was going to be a Soldier.
Bailey said he hopes the Soldiers he leads view him as a leader who will never let them down, that they will find value in what he teaches them and see him as someone they can come to with any problem, no matter how bad they feel the situation is. "Ultimately, I want my Soldiers to trust me in everything I do for them," he said.
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Mueller, a 1-40th platoon sergeant, said Bailey is dedicated to his Soldiers and unit and is never afraid to take on a task, even if he has never done it before. "His concern for his Soldiers before himself is recognized not only by his superiors, but also from his peers," Mueller said. "Staff Sgt. Bailey epitomizes the NCO Creed in his everyday dealings with his Soldiers, as well as superiors. He does this by always placing the needs of the unit and his Soldiers before himself."
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