What is the HHC Commander's job?

Chuck Holmes provided a good response to this question in his 2013 post on Part-Time-Commander.com.

As he states, in a line company you're the most senior person, and whatever you say goes. Yet an HHC (or HHD, or HHB, or HHT) commander, is not even close to being the most senior person in their own company. In this environment, finding your role can be difficult because of the varied interests at work.

For example, who's responsible for the establishing the rating scheme? AR 623-3 says the company commander is responsible for publishing it, but if the sergeant major is the one who assigns personnel to sections and the S1 manages the officers, who's really in charge?

From my experience over the past year and a half, these are an HHC commander's four major roles:

1. The Administrator. As the administrator, you sign leave and pass requests, personnel actions (4187s), vehicle dispatches, licenses, weapons cards, memoranda, award recommendations, monthly unit financial reports, and 8 gazillion other little pieces of paper. You also complete the monthly unit status report, develop quarterly training plans, write policy letters, handle weekly "SIGACTS/Storyboards" and manage the First Sergeant.
   
   For his part, the First Sergeant ensures everyone in the company is trained and medically ready. This means telling people to go to the dentist (or get immunizations, or whatever), supervising the Thursday "Sergeant's Time Training," following up on mandatory online training, planning the exercise (PRT) schedule, selecting people for details (e.g. flag raising detail), and a thousand other details.
   
   He also has a role in recommending junior soldiers for promotion, reviewing evaluations, screening leave and pass requests, and making sure people get awards when they change duty stations.
   
   Needless to say, the Administrator role takes up a lot of time, and if you're not careful it can eat up every moment you're sitting at your desk.
   
   
2. The Resource Manager. In this role, you direct the supply section, order supplies, conduct monthly cyclic inventories, manage the shortage annexes, minimize container storage, reallocate equipment, direct turn in of excess, track lateral transfers, and ensure vehicles are properly maintained. You might also help staff sections coordinate for Unfinanced Requests (UFRs) to acquire unbudgeted items and recommend changes to MTOEs and TDAs.
   
   You also manage the bank accounts for the Family Readiness Group, Cup and Flower Fund, and Unit Funds (if any of these apply). For these, your job is to direct how the money is to be spent and follow up to make sure everything's kosher.
   
   Of the four roles, this is probably the least emphasized but has the most financial impact on you. Because it deals with inventories and money, you can be held financially liable if you screw this up.
   
   If your unit has a barracks, you could put barracks operations in this category, too. Your barracks manager oversees furniture allocations by room, and should be maintaining visibility for you on how many rooms you have available. If someone has a domestic issue and needs a place to cool off, good resource management of your barracks can allow you to make a quick decision.
   
   
3. The Conscience. Unlike a line commander, who sits at the top of all rating chains, you stand apart from those who report to the section OICs. As such, you can serve as an honest broker in evaluations. If someone doesn't feel a bad evaluation is justified, you can help them write the appeal.
   
   Most significantly, though, you're the one who gives the weekly weekend safety briefs. The staff officers don't usually speak to the formation as a whole, but you should do this regularly -- at Equal Opportunity sessions, SHARP training, and financial management seminars. This shows command emphasis.
   
   As the Conscience, you can also tackle field grade officers for minor ethical issues like swearing, using tobacco in the office, or command climate issues -- as long as you're still respectful.
   
   
4. The Hammer. At the end of the day, you're still the commander, and you have the power to punish. Most obviously, you can punish soldiers with company grade Article 15s -- restrictions, extra duty, forfeiture of pay, and reductions (for junior enlisted).
   
   Yet the Hammer has a range of options and duties. You counsel people if they're delinquent with their government travel card, if they don't pay their bills, if they exceed their ration control limits (in Korea), or if they fail a physical fitness test. As a service to the sections, you step in when corrective training isn't enough to straighten someone out.
   
   You can also institute "bars to reenlistment," whereby someone has 6 months to correct an issue or be separated. That's sometimes even more effective than UCMJ punishment. And when none of these measures is sufficient to deal with issues, the Hammer separates soldiers from active duty.

Some things that I recommend HHC commanders *not* do is get involved in battalion headquarters training. If a higher level commander wants the headquarters to go the field, let them set the dates. It's not your job to tell staff sections when they should go to the field. Your job is to manage training for Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills, PRT, and mandatory periodic training.

Also, you should not try to mediate between sections. If someone staff officer doesn't like someone else, that's not your concern -- if anything, you might bring it up to someone higher, but don't step into interpersonal conflicts.

Neither should you step on your First Sergeant's toes by meddling in NCO affairs. Let him handle NCO problems, and back-brief you on how things work out.

Being an HHC commander is a tricky business, and I probably could learn even more if I could continue in the position. A lot of it depends on the support you get from your battalion commander, and what they expect from both you and the majors on staff. It's been hard for me to come into the unit from outside, get few expectations or "rules of engagement," and then navigate the waters with little guidance.

Hopefully, this clarifies things a bit.