Command Sgt. Maj. Mark L. Farley gets pinned with the Defense Superior Service Medal by Gen. John Craddock, EUCOM commander. For the past three years, Farley has led the enlisted ranks in Europe and served as an adviser to Craddock on issues ranging from quality-of-life concerns for military families to the training and education of troops. (John Vandiver / Stars and Stripes)
STUTTGART, Germany — Fleet Master Chief Roy M. Maddocks took the reins Friday as U.S. European Command’s senior enlisted leader, marking the first time a sailor will lead EUCOM’s noncommissioned ranks since the command was established in 1952.
Maddocks, also a Navy SEAL, previously served as the senior enlisted leader for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.
"I’m eager to get started. One team, one fight," Maddocks said during a change-of- responsibility ceremony at EUCOM’s Patch Barracks headquarters.
Maddocks replaces Army Command Sgt. Maj. Mark L. Farley, who has served in the post for the past three years and helped guide EUCOM through a period of transformation.
During Farley’s tenure, EUCOM experienced sweeping changes. When Farley walked into the job, the command’s area of responsibility included 93 countries and stretched from northern Europe to the southern tip of Africa. Now, EUCOM oversees 51 countries, following the activation last year of the U.S. Africa Command.
"One of the major successes in that time was the standup of AFRICOM," Farley said before Friday’s ceremony. "That was a lot of work."
During the past three years, EUCOM has seen the repeated deployments of its troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the troop drawdown, coupled with steady deployment rotations, has created some challenges for conducting training missions with partner nations.
Training and capacity-building still get accomplished, he said.
"It’s not a question of if we can do it."
But with fewer troops on the ground in Europe, the training process takes longer and is less efficient than it could be, Farley said.
"It’s more beneficial to have permanently assigned troops who can establish habitual relationships," he said.
It remains to be seen whether troop levels will hold in the EUCOM theater or the drawdown will continue. Gen. John Craddock, EUCOM’s outgoing commander, has been an advocate of halting the drawdown.
During the ceremony, Craddock talked about Farley’s contributions, describing him as someone equally comfortable in the conference room as he is in the war room.
"I am convinced there will be no more like him," Craddock said.
Though his job as EUCOM top enlisted soldier involved advising a general and even testifying before Congress, Farley always remained a field soldier. As Craddock said, Farley is someone who can take one canteen of water, "and with that he will shave, brush his teeth, make coffee, wash his crotch and he does it in the right order."
With more than 275,000 military personnel and family members in the theater, EUCOM’s senior enlisted leader also works on quality-of-life issues. Much progress has been made, but challenges persist, Farley said.
Whether it’s overcrowded schools in one community or insufficient access to child care in another, some issues are harder to solve than others.
"There’s no salami-slice solution," Farley said.
Maddocks, who has spent much of his career in the secret world of special operations, said he’s looking forward to taking on the issues. "I think you do it one piece at a time," he said.
As he settles into life in Stuttgart, Maddocks will don the Navy’s new blue digital camouflage uniform, which is starting to show up around post. It remains to be seen whether he will get some ribbing from some of his special forces comrades based in Stuttgart, including the SEALs, who wear the more traditional looking camouflage.
"You may see me in the blue. I’ll probably be the only SEAL wearing it," he joked.
