JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Jan. 23, 2014) -- Members of the Mission and Installation Contracting Command welcomed their new command sergeant major during an assumption-of-responsibility ceremony Jan. 16 at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Command Sgt. Maj. Stephen E. Bowens comes to the MICC from 1st Recruiting Brigade at Fort Meade, Md., where he served as the brigade command sergeant major.
Bowens replaced Command Sgt. Maj. Rodney Rhoades, who was reassigned in December to the 21st Theater Sustainment Command in Germany. Headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, MICC officials chose to conduct the ceremony at Fort Bliss where more than 100 MICC members are participating in the 2014 Operational Contract Support Joint Exercise through Jan. 31.
"Our Army has entrusted us with this tremendous responsibility -- to provide Army commands, installations and activities with responsive contracting solutions and oversight -- and in turn we have an obligation to our Army and the nation to do so in a responsible manner and be accountable for all our actions -- individually and collectively," Bowens said. "We have a sacred obligation to those who have gone before us. We fulfill this obligation by setting and enforcing high standards -- standards only the best of the best can meet -- so that we, too, can maintain the trust of the American people and the continued viability of the all-volunteer Army."
Bowens, a native of Saint Stephens, S.C., enlisted in the Army in June 1989 as an armor crewman. He served in armor battalions and an armor cavalry regiment before entering the recruiting military occupational specialty in 1997.
Following recruiting duty, his assignments included senior instructor and division chief at the Recruiting and Retention School, first sergeant at the battalion level, and sergeant major for the Soldier Support Institute at Fort Jackson, S.C. He served as the command sergeant major at the battalion level prior to the recruiting brigade.
Bowens is a graduate of all of the Army NCO Education System courses, including the Sergeants Major Academy class 57. He also holds an MBA in Project Management from Columbia Southern University and MBA in Human Resource Management from Trident University.
His awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal with five oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal with seven oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal with 11 oak leaf clusters, and Glen E. Morrell Ring and Medallion. He is authorized to wear the Air Assault Badge.
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