DETROIT ARSENAL, Mich. – A break in the rain allowed members of the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command to officially welcome Command Sgt. Maj. Kendra St Helen as the command’s senior non-commissioned officer and senior advisor in an Aug. 8 outdoor ceremony at Detroit Arsenal.
“Command Sergeant Major St Helen, on behalf of the TACOM community, we’re proud to now call you one of our own,” said Maj. Gen. Darren Werner, TACOM commanding general and host of the Assumption of Responsibility ceremony.
“I know you understand the importance of what we do here at TACOM and the immense impact we have as a team in supporting Soldiers in their respective missions,” he continued. “Your support of this team – the TACOM team – will help to ensure our ability to continue to provide and maintain our commitment to excellence.”
“I know that you’ve already received a warm TACOM and Detroit Arsenal welcome, and that welcome has also been extended to your awesome Army family,” Werner said.
“It is an honor and a privilege for me and my family that I stand here before you today, joining the Army’s preeminent ground and support systems provider – the United States Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command,” St Helen said in her first public remarks as the TACOM command sergeant major.
“As a junior Soldier, I utilized and depended upon my gear and equipment – the very equipment this organization is responsible for,” she added, noting that TACOM provides more than sixty percent of the equipment used in an Army combat brigade.
St Helen is the first black female to hold the top non-commissioned officer position within TACOM headquarters. She has more than 26 years of active-duty service and is a member of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club, a recipient of the Distinguished Order of St. Martin and the Order of St. Christopher and has earned a President’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
St Helen’s predecessor, Command Sgt. Maj. Jerry Charles, retired after more than 29 years of Army service in a similar ceremony held in June, leaving the TACOM top non-commissioned officer post vacant for over a month.
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