With hugs and fanfare, the 3rd Infantry Division bid a fond farewell to the top noncommissioned officer Thursday morning and welcomed back a new division command sergeant major.
Quentin Fenderson completed a 29-year career in the Army on Thursday, having spent the last 32 months as “Marne 7,” the 3rd ID command sergeant major. He turned over the reins to Command Sgt. Maj. Jonathan Reffeor, who had been a battalion and brigade command sergeant major in the division. Command Sgt. Majr.Reffeor most recently was the operations command sergeant major for U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command, based in Germany.
“It’s truly an honor, honestly,” Command Sgt. Maj. Reffeor said. “This is what our family wanted. This was our number one choice, to come back here. It’s a great community, it’s a great organization. I just love it here.”
Fenderson, who is returning to his home state of AlabamanowthathisArmy career, said giving a farewell speech “was rough.”
Fenderson said when he was told he could not stay as the division’s command sergeant major for the rest of his life, he thought about a couple of people, those who inspired him.
He also drew inspiration from the wall just outside his office, with portraits from the division’s previous top enlisted soldier.
“Every day I walk out of the office, I look to my left and there’s a board that talks about all the Marne 7s,” Fenderson said. “The one thing I look at for motivation is the example that they set for me.”
Fenderson also credited the relationship he built with 3rd ID commander Maj. Gen. Charles Costanza, a bond that has become so strong that the general said the Fendersons are now part of his family.
“We’ve got to get a hyphenated name tag,” he cracked.
Maj. Gen. Costanza said his outgoing command sergeant major is “genuinely a good person and cares about people.”
“How do you capture 30 years of service to this country, this Army?” Maj. Gen. Costanza asked. “We serve for you. We serve for each other. We serve for people. That’s what the Army’s about.”
Fenderson also had advice for his fellow top NCOs, as brigade and battalion command sergeant majors also were in attendance Thursday.
“Every sergeant major, you are not going to be successful just because you are a sergeant major,” he said. “You have to work each and every day for the soldiers and the families to ensure they are taken care of and you have to make sure every commander understands that you are relevant and that you are going to be. Sometimes, it’s not going to be an easy conversation. But they need to hear it. Remember that noncommissioned officers lead the way.”
Fenderson recalled a talk he had with a sergeant major on the base just a couple of years ago. He advised that brigade command sergeant major to take a position in Germany — as division level command sergeant major roles are few — and to see how it worked out.
He gave that counsel to Sgt. Maj. Reffeor and now has turned over the Marne 7 duties to him.
“And it’s worked out,” Fenderson said. “I feel comfortable leaving this position because of the person who’s coming behind me and the family coming behind me.”
Reffeor expressed his gratitude for Fenderson’s mentorship over the years and also encouraged the crowd at Cottrell Field to notice the Warriors Walk that borders it. He marked the 20-year anniversary of the division’s Thunder Runs and its capture of Baghdad.
“Remember our fallen heroes,” he said. “Each day we are reminded of their sacrifice of the 469 trees that are planted on each side of Cottrell Field. To the soldiers of this great division, I promise you 100 percent effort every day and I ask in return to bring the same effort, and I have no doubt you will.”
Maj. Gen. Costanza called Reffeor and his family “exactly the right ones” as the division prepares to go through a transition of leadership and a deployment.
“There is no better fit for this division than you,” Maj. Gen. Costanza said.
The 3rd ID’s headquarters, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Division Artillery and Sustainment Brigade are set to deploy this summer for a nine-month stint in Europe. The headquarters, DIVARTY and Sustainment Brigade are replacing soldiers from the 4th ID on rotation in Poland and Latvia. The 2nd Brigade is taking the place of a 1st Cavalry Division brigade in Poland.
That deployment is expected to include 4,500 soldiers in all, and that total does not include the deployment of the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade at Hunter Army Airfield already in the works.
“I know the terrain very well,” Command Sgt. Maj. Reffeor said. “I can help shape them and help understand what the environment looks like over there with the other countries.”
Fenderson also thanked his family for their patience during his 29 years in the Army, acknowledging it was not always easy on them, either.
“I know there were times you felt like I was choosing the Army over you guys,” he said, “but you never, ever showed that to me. I just want to tell you thank you. Be prepared to be sick of me.”
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