Frederick police officer accepts top enlisted position with Army Reserve unit at Fort McHenry

Photo By Jacob Boyer | Soldiers of the Army Reserve's 352nd Civil Affairs Command stand in formation while Command Sgt. Maj. Earl Rocca, Brig. Gen. Ed Burley and Command Sgt. Maj. Harry Bennett enter Fort McHenry, Aug. 11, prior to the unit's change of responsibility in Baltimore. Rocca, who lives in Frederick, Md., replaced Bennett, who lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., as the 352nd CACOM's top enlisted soldier.  

BALTIMORE, MD, UNITED STATES

08.11.2012

Story by Sgt. Erick Yates 

352nd Civil Affairs Command

BALTIMORE - A police officer from Frederick, Md., took charge as the top enlisted soldier in the Army Reserve’s 352nd Civil Affairs Command during an Aug. 11 change of responsibility ceremony at Fort McHenry, in Baltimore.

With the sun casting a glow over the fort’s historic battlements, Command Sgt. Maj. Earl Rocca, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., accepted a noncommissioned officer’s sword from Command Sgt. Maj. Harry Bennett, who will take over as command sergeant major of the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne). Rocca moves into his new position after serving as command sergeant major of the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade.

“I’m both honored and humbled to stand before you here today and accept responsibility for the duties associated with the 352nd CACOM,” Rocca said during his acceptance speech. “I realize I have big boots to fill in coming into this position after Command Sergeant Major Bennett. He is a standards man; he is all about standards and that is one of the things we agree upon the most.”

Brig. Gen. Ed Burley, 352nd CACOM commander, welcomed Rocca, who has spent his entire Army Reserve career in the command’s ranks.

“We are extremely fortunate that we did not have to welcome a stranger, but one of our own as our command sergeant major, said Brig. Gen. Ed Burley, the 352nd CACOM commander. “I cannot think of any NCO in the Army better suited to follow Harry Bennett than Earl.”

As Bennett bid farewell to the command and welcomed his comrade to his former position, he remarked on the significance of Fort McHenry and its role in the War of 1812.

“We were facing an enemy that was trying to bring war to our soil. We were facing an uncertain future as both a nation and a military,” Bennett said.

Bennett compared the soldiers of that era, who faced an enemy on their shores, to today’s warrior citizens.

“What I want folks to take out of this too, is what today’s Army is looking at,” he said. “We are facing changes ahead and looking at an enemy who wants to bring acts to our soil.”

As senior leaders transition into new roles or retire, they look to a new generation with combat experience to take the Army to the next level, Bennett said.

“Rocca is true to the NCO Corps; the basics and the development of the NCO force,” Bennett said.

• Date Taken: 08.11.2012
• Date Posted: 08.12.2012 16:45
• Story ID: 93071
• Location: BALTIMORE, MD, US