How do you do a curtailment?

If you want to become a Drill Sergeant then you are going to have to complete the tour. You may apply for drill sergeant NET 14 months prior to your DEROS and NLT 10 months prior. Para 8-22, AR 614-200 specifically prohibits curtailing an overseas tour for the sole purpose of entry into the Drill Sergeant program.

Curtailment are explained in AR 614-30. Your branch manager is the approval authority for curtailment and strengths will always be the deciding factor. Whether or not "you" are being effectively utilized as a SSG is irrelevant to your branch. The metric they use is how many your BDE has of your MOS at your rank and how many they are authorized. Be advised that they will only be able to curtail up to a year off your tour without some extenuating circumstances.

AR 614-30, Chapter 5 covers curtailments. However, been underutilized doesn’t meet the criteria for such action. You need to have a conversation with your NCO Support Channel. I’m sure there are more jobs in your organization than that. As a SSG you could be utilized from the company level all the way up to brigade. That ought to be your #1 COA. Perhaps an honest conversation with your raters during your quarterly counseling - doesn’t need to wait that long but an opportunity to have it documented. Become extremely familiar with your organization’s MTOE/TDA and DA Pam 611-21 prior to initiate your conversation.