From Private to Command Sergeant Major: CSM Dwayne Coffer’s History with the 2-317th Regiment

By Command Sgt. Maj. Dwayne Coffer, 2nd Battalion, 317th Regiment

Command Sgt. Maj. Dwayne Coffer’s history with the 2nd Batt., 317th Reg., 2nd Brig., 104th Training Division (Leader Training) goes way back farther than when he became the unit’s command sergeant major in April 2019. Drill sergeants from the 2-317th Regiment, headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia, trained Coffer back in April and May 1993 when “CSM Coffer” was “Pvt. Coffer.”

In 1993 and 1994, Army Reserve drill sergeants from the 2-317th, then a part of the 80th Training Division, conducted their annual training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. The Army Reserve drill sergeants worked with their activeduty counterparts. They rotated on a regular schedule, which meant that a fresh set of drill sergeants from the 2-317th appeared before the basic trainees every two weeks, one of which was Pvt. Coffer.

“I was in the Delayed Entry Program prior to going to Basic Training, which meant that I went to my Reserve unit at Fort Pickett, Virginia, which was also under the 80th Division at the time,” said Coffer. “I already had uniforms with the 80th Division patch on them when I went to basic training.”

Coffer continued, “When I found out that we had Reserve drill sergeants from Virginia who were also in the 80th Division, I thought that it would be cool for me to wear my uniforms with the 80th Division patch on them.

“This was not for me to get special treatment, but to show pride that I was also from Virginia and also in the 80th Division. This was a big mistake! There seemed to have been every drill sergeant from the 2-317th’s ‘Special Project,’ and I did more push-ups than I thought humanly possible.”

“When I found out in 2019 that I had been chosen to be the Command Sergeant Major of the 2-317th Regiment, I thought to myself, what are the chances of this being the same drill sergeant unit that trained me at Basic Training? Once I found out that it was the same unit, I was filled with an enormous amount of pride,” said Coffer.

“The quality of drill sergeants and other Soldiers who are currently at the 2-317th Regiment in 2022 is the highest possible, just like in 1993. It’s amazing that almost three decades later, the drill sergeants of the 2-317th are still among the best in the Army.”

Dr. Dwayne Coffer Ed.D, Ed.S, MS, BS