Photo By Cpl. Mark Stroud | Sgt. Maj. Steven D. Morefield, right, incoming sergeant major of III Marine...... read more read more
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OKINAWA, Japan - Sgt. Maj. Steven D. Morefield accepted responsibility as III Marine Expeditionary Force sergeant major from Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Fierle in a ceremony at Camp Hansen June 2.
More than 200 Marines and sailors, as well as airmen, soldiers, family members, Japan Self-Defense Force members and Okinawa community leaders watched as Lt. Gen. Kenneth J. Glueck Jr. III, MEF commanding general and Marine Corps Bases Japan commander, passed the sword of office from Fierle to Morefield.
During the ceremony, Glueck welcomed Morfield to III MEF.
“We could not accomplish what we do on a daily basis, as we just demonstrated during Operation Tomodachi, without a strong team,” Glueck said.
“We’re proud to have you as a member of the team,” Glueck told Morefield.
Glueck also thanked the JSDF members for their presence at the ceremony, telling them that they too are a vital component of the III MEF’s team on Okinawa.
Morefield told those assembled he was excited to have the chance to work with the Marines and sailors here.
“I will do everything I can to benefit the Marines and sailors of the III MEF,” said Morefield, whose previous assignment was as sergeant major of Manpower Management Division, Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps.
“I am extremely impressed with each and every one of you. I admire you for who you are. I admire you for what you do. I am going to be with you every step of the way. I am going to work with you, and I am going to train with you,” he said to III MEF’s Marines and sailors.
“The enlisted Marines and sailors I have run into here are exceptional … I know a large part of this is the experience Sgt. Maj. Fierle has put into the MEF,” added Morefield
Morefield also acknowledged the JSDF members present.
“Our brothers-in-arms in the Japan Self-Defense Force, I can’t tell you how excited I am to see you here,” he said. “I appreciate the working relationship [between the two forces] … I look forward to working with you.”
Morefield said he plans to continue the tradition of excellence already established within III MEF, as “that’s what we owe our country as U.S. Marines.”
The families of III MEF are another vital element of this unit, he added.
“My family is important to me. I know your families are important to you too,” he said. “Your families are every bit as important to me as my own is.”
Fierle, whose retirement was included in the ceremony, endorsed Morefield’s commitment to the MEF’s families.
“He’s a family man, so he can connect to the families,” said Fierle.
Fierle, who had been the III MEF sergeant major since April 2008, spoke of his tenure with III MEF and thanked the many people he had meet here who made his time on Okinawa worthwhile.
“It’s the professionals that you work with, the people that you meet” that make the experience so enriching, he said. “This last tour has been extremely rewarding.”
Fierle, who served 32 years in the Marine Corps, was awarded a Legion of Merit, gold star in lieu of second award, for his tenure as III MEF’s sergeant major.
| Date Taken: | 06.09.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.09.2011 00:28 |
| Story ID: | 71810 |
| Location: | OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 395 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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