What is the best advice that you would give a young, junior enlisted, soldier?

Keep your Ears on and mouth shut- if you have questions ask them as questions one on one to your leaders. Never play "Barracks Lawyer" That most of the time will bite you in the ass. Never settle for mediocre or just passing- always try to Excell at everything. Take all the military education you can get

I always told my Soldiers of their five rights. You have the first two already: right uniform, right time. But also there is right place. And more important than those three are the other two: doing the right thing with the right attitude.

The first three are expected. They will never be noticed or mentioned unless you screw them up. The last two are what gets you noticed.

Take initiative. Even as a Specialist. If you have nothing to do, find something. If you can't find anything, ask your NCOs. They'll be happy to put you to work. But they'll be even happier if you put yourself to work.

When in charge, take charge. This includes if you and a group of privates are standing around waiting for something. You are the senior guy, take charge and do something productive. Even if it is just discussing the upcoming training or the training that just completed, a discussion can get people's mind in the right frame, or help clear up confusion.

Respect your coworkers - seniors, peers and subordinates. Regardless of your personal feelings, they are human beings and worthy of the basic respect of a fellow human. In addition, they raised their right hand. Even if they SUCK, at least they were willing to serve, which is more than 99% of Americans.

Finally, and this ties in to respect, but don't be a dick. There will be times when one of your NCOs or Officers screws up. Big time. Don't "I told you so" (even if you did). Don't rub it in, and don't take the opportunity to highlight their failure to higher. Instead, help them out. Take the opportunity to prove you are on their team.

There will also be times when you are in charge of other Soldiers. That is not the opportunity to do to them all the crappy things that were done to you. Even if they mess up. Figure out WHY they messed up, and help them fix it. Don't just smoke them and tell them to unfuck themselves. If you stay around and make a career, there WILL be times when you have to be a dick, because that is what the situation calls for. But 1) this should be the exception, not the rule and 2) make sure it is professional, never EVER let it become personal.

Volunteer for everything, doesn’t matter what it is or even if you aren’t told what you’re doing. Sometimes it’ll suck and you’ll be the guy doing what the others don’t want to do, but it’ll build you up as the kind of leader who’s known to get the job done right every time and who’s not afraid to sacrifice their comfort for the good of their troops. It will show you’re dependable and can be a “fire and forget” type of worker, that doesn’t need to be supervised. Volunteer for everything, it’ll get you promoted, but more importantly you’ll EARN the RESPECT of your peers and subordinates.