Well, in the absence of any "real" soldiers answering you, I‘ll let another reservist (me) chime in.
I was a musician for nine years starting in 1987, then a mandatory remuster to finance clerk when the pipe bands in Canada were all cut off from their funding due to budgetary concerns. Real slick on the part of the government, really, since they knew all the self-respecting Highland Regiments would continue to fund their own pipe bands.
The Finance Clerk trade was amalgamated with the Administration Clerk trade a year or so after that, so I am at the point where I don‘t even remember what my MOC is, there have been so many of them. They now call it Resource Management Support Clerk - one more of those corporate civvie terms that are encroaching on us in the military. It wasn‘t long ago the rumour mill had all the NCM ranks being replaced - instead of being a private or a corporal, you would be a "journeyman"....
But I digress.
As a company clerk I am the jack of all trades, master of none. Sometimes, when the CSM is feeling charitable, he will tell people that I run the company. In some senses that is true. When girls find out I am a company clerk, they ask "like Radar on MASH"? And the answer is yes, very much like that. (Even Colonel Blake often commented "Radar runs the company, anyway.")
In practical terms, I keep the company order of battle up to date (meaning I keep track of who is in the company, how to contact them, find out why people are NES, etc.), do correspondence and odd jobs for my bosses (the company sergeant major, the company second in command, the Officer Commanding the company, the platoon warrants, the company quartermaster sergeant, and sometimes the section commanders....), ensure that the troops are all getting paid (putting out paysheets, following up pay queries with the ASC, handing out pay stubs, etc.) I keep the company office neat and tidy and provide info to my bosses as they need it - pay rates, meal allowance claims, mileage, questions about the various orders that govern our lives - QR&Os, CFAOs, LFWADs, Routine Orders, Standing Orders, et al and etc.
I receive all the company mail and forward it to the appropriate parties - promotion paperwork, requests for transfer or leave, etc.; I ensure they get passed through the chain of command both ways and keep my bosses informed of who is doing what, when.
When there is a company parade, I parade with them, when there is a battalion parade or a ceremonial function, I parade with the company - meaning drill, sometimes with weapons, keeping the ceremonial uniform in order, etc.
If I run out of office work, I help out the quartermaster sergeant and his storesmen. Or I help the other clerks in the battalion if they need it.
Sometimes, I am required to sit in on lectures to learn about new kit - M203 grenade launchers, new radios, this year I expect (or hope) to be doing conversion training, if there is any, for the new Silverado vehicles.
In the field, I keep our company battle box up to date by ensuring everyone‘s Personal Emergency Notification form is accurate, up to date, and on hand should it be needed. I drive my OC and the CSM around in our Iltis and on occasion work the radios as a company signaller. Sometimes I act as a rifleman with one of the sections (when they are desperate!!) and walk patrols or man a defensive position. In the field, just as in garrison, I lend a hand with the quartermaster sergeant who is always busy, distibuting meals, ammunition, supplies, collecting salvage, tearing down tents, whatever.
On an annual basic, I do my Warrior training (or MLOC or TOETs or whatever it is called this week) just like everyone else in the regiment, officers included - in other words, requalify on the basic drills for the C7, C6, C9, hand grenader, M72, Carl Gustav as well as basic comms, navigation, first aid, NBC defence, and mine awareness.
On rare occasions, I still play my pipes - usually for charge parades. In a Highland Regiment, if you are brought up before a summary trial (or God forbid, a court martial) you are entitled to be played into the trial room or courtroom. The traditional tune is "A Man‘s A Man For A‘ That", a Robbie Burns tune, the words of which are meant to remind the officer sitting in judgement of you that, basically, boys will be boys and we shouldn‘t judge young soldiers too harshly. If you‘re acquitted, you get played out with the Regimental March.
Plenty of opporunities for clerks to find work; I also do administration for the regimental pipes and drums on occasion, am the interim webmaster for the regimental website, and do some other volunteer stuff on the side.
Boring? Not to me, and there are fringe benefits. I‘m trusted enough to be privy to conversations about a lot of what goes on in the regiment (though to maintain that trust, I never talk about it with others, keeping it to myself) and have a little bit more of an understanding of the "big picture" than some of the troops on the floor.
And the other benefit is feeling like I accomplish something by the end of each night, seeing a stack of paperwork resolved, or being able to answer questions for young troops coming to me with pay problems or other admin concerns like grants or whatever - stuff that is of huge importance to them which I am able to provide clear answers to. Very rewarding.
I got the impression the original poster was looking for detail, hence my being long winded. Does everyone else really dislike what they do so much, to the point of not wanting to discuss it? I love it, frankly, and look forward to doing it for a long time to come.
