Army technology command honors outgoing, incoming leaders

Sierra Vista Herald ^ | Emily Ellis

[SandRat]

FORT HUACHUCA — Command Sgt. Maj. Darris Curry of the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM) passed the torch of responsibility over to Command Sgt. Maj. Jennifer Taylor in a traditional change of colors ceremony on Thursday.

Taylor joins a unit with a very particular mission.

NETCOM has been headquartered at Fort Huachuca since 1997, according to the Army website, and handles global operations for the Army’s part of the Department of Defense Information Network. It conducts cyberspace operations and manages networks for the active-duty Army, National Guard and Army Reserve. It’s a particularly important duty in the digital age, said Public Affairs Officer Gordon Van Vleet.

“We’ve got soldiers in Korea, Japan, Hawaii, Alaska, other locations like Guam,” he said. “We average around 20 countries where we’re deployed to or located at any given time.”

The NETCOM unit has been with the Army since 1945, although it has undergone multiple designations and inactivations in its 73-year history.

It currently has more than 15,000 military, civilian and contractors “in the command,” throughout the world, said Van Vleet.

Although the NETCOM mission often takes it far from Arizona, Sierra Vista Mayor Rick Mueller, who attended the ceremony, said all different units of the Army played an important role both at Fort Huachuca and the city.

“We’re all one community, and we all work together,” he said.

The command sergeant major holds an especially important position in the Army, which is why community leaders should be present to welcome new ones, said Mueller.

“The sergeant major is critical to any organization,” he said. “It’s the right hand of the commander.”

The NETCOM command sergeant major’s responsibilities include counseling and mentoring soldiers, and he or she frequently travels overseas to carry out those duties, said Van Vleet.

It is a position Curry has held since 2016.

In the ceremony, NETCOM Maj. Gen. John Baker passed the bright orange flag from Curry to the incoming Taylor. The ceremony held particular weight for Curry, who was retiring after more than 30 years of military service.

“First of all, I made it,” he said with a grin after stepping up to the podium for his closing remarks.

He credited the unit’s successes to the “entire team,” and mentioned some of NETCOM’s accomplishments over the past two years, including the brigades it had supported in Korea and Europe.

“This was the greatest achievement of my military career,” he said, as his wife and small daughter looked on from the shade.

Taylor, one of several women who have held leadership positions with NETCOM in recent years, kept her remarks short.

An information technology specialist with a long list of assignments to her name, she spoke of her dedication and passion to the Army and her intention to being a strong leader for NETCOM.

“I look forward to leading you the only way I know how — from the front,” she said, to cheers from onlookers.