With hundreds of noncommissioned officers and soldiers in attendance, Command Sgt. Maj. Jonathan Reffeor had one last directive as the 3rd Infantry Division’s command sergeant major.

“You are released for the day,” he exclaimed and was greeted by emphatic shouts and cheers Friday morning at Cottrell Field.

Command Sgt. Maj. Reffeor is relinquishing his role as the division’s command sergeant major. His next post will be as the I Corps command sergeant major at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. But Reffeor proclaimed he will always be a “dogfaced soldier,” the moniker of the 3rd ID troops.

“You are the greatest driver of change I’ve ever seen,” Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, the 3rd ID commanding general, said to Reffeor.

Maj. Gen. Norrie, who leaves command next week for another assignment, listed the initiatives and improvements that Reffeor brought to him in their two years together. He also reflected on their time together as Marne 6 and Marne 7, their respective call signs, which included two brigade deployments to Europe, snowstorms, floods and a Humvee crashing into the division headquarters’ front doors.

“We’ve been through some (stuff) the last two years,” Norrie said.

Norrie also lauded his top enlisted advisor, who previously was a battalion and brigade sergeant major in the 3rd ID and has been on four combat deployments.

“You fight like hell, no matter the task or responsibility,” Norrie said of Reffeor. “Farewell to this warrior in this warrior’s place. Your legacy will be felt for generations.”

For more, see the July 24 edition of the Coastal Courier.