The Chief Warrant Officer of the Adjutant General Corps’ changed during a small socially-distanced ceremony.
Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jacque L. Nixon relinquished his responsibilities to Chief Warrant Officer 5 Mark Hickman in a small ceremony in the Soldier Support Institute Auditorium May 1.
“We would like to extend a virtual welcome to the family and friends of both Chief Warrant Officer 5 Nixon and Chief Warrant Officer 5 Hickman,” said the ceremony’s narrator Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Money III.
Although the Family members of Nixon and Hickman were not in attendance, they helped celebrate the event by watching the livestream of the ceremony from the safety of their homes.
Those who were able to attend the ceremony practiced social distancing by leaving two to three seats empty around them as they took their seats in the theater.
“It’s a little weird,” Hickman said of the ceremony. “The health and safety of others definitely outweighs the pageantry though.”
Col. Michael McTigue, Adjutant General School commandant and Chief of the Adjutant General Corps and Army Bands, presided over the ceremony. In addition to virtual attendance, the traditional passing of the saber was replaced by a lone saber bearer who presented and guarded the saber throughout the ceremony.
“The tradition of presenting swords and sabers to officers dates back to the origin of the sword itself. In warrior cultures, every Soldier was expected to possess a sword and shield,” Money said. “The traditional passing of the saber today signifies the change of responsibility between two superb leaders and appropriately represents the Adjutant General’s Corps motto of Defend and Serve.”
After relinquishing his duties, Nixon spoke to attendees and his Family members watching the ceremony.
“As I resign my duties as the 7th Chief Warrant Officer of the Corps I have had an opportunity to reflect on the last few years as well as my 33 years on active duty. I’m going to use my 60 minutes to simply say thank you to a few individuals that supported and assisted me,” Nixon said jokingly. After thanking those who helped mentor and support his career, he closed with, “Chief Warrant Officer Jacque Nixon saying ‘out’ and ‘Support and Defend.’”
Nixon will report to the Pentagon as soon as military travel restrictions ease, to help support the recruitment, organization, training, equipping and care of 1.4 million active duty, National Guard, Reserve Soldiers, Department of the Army Civilians and their Family members.
“I want to wish him well as he heads off to the Immediate Office of the Secretary of the Army,” said McTigue. “He’s the right officer to represent our Corps at that level during this critical time. I know he is up to the challenge.”
Hickman was next to address attendees and his Family as they watched the live stream.
“Since Jacque didn’t use all of his 60 minutes, I will take some of that,” Hickman jokingly said to open his speech. “It’s truly an honor to stand before you today as the 8th Warrant Officer of the AG Corps. I have been a witness to the agility, versatility and amazing passion of generations of professionals dedicated to the Army, its Soldiers and their Family members.”
Hickman spoke of the abilities of Adjutant General Warrant Officers to deliver guidance, support and problem solving skills as the number of warrant officers within the corps have been reduced over the years while demands of their responsibilities have increased.
“We’ve delivered because we care. We care to take care of our commanders, our units and our Soldiers and Families,” Hickman said. “We deliver because we take great pride and because of our professional network. There is nothing more powerful than a group of mutually supporting AG warrant officers. As your representative, I will continue to do everything I can to further enable your ability to deliver and most importantly to ensure we own our expertise.”
“We welcome Chief Mark Hickman to the AG Corps Family,” McTigue said. “Chief Hickman is another talented warrant officer who has led his units to success wherever he has been. He’s competent, professional, dedicated and ready to raise this Corps to new heights.”
The ceremony came to a close as those in attendance stood for the playing of The Army Song. No one sang the song to prevent any possible spread of the COVID-19 virus. As the song began playing, the crowd remained silent, but as the song progressed the music was accompanied by attendees humming the words.
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