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The Tennessee National Guard transitioned to a new Senior Enlisted Leader on July 25. Command Chief Master Sgt. Mark Harris assumed the position upon the retirement of Command Sgt. Maj. Terry Scott, who has served as the state’s Senior Enlisted Leader since Jan. 1, 2014.
“We are a joint force in the Tennessee National Guard, Army and Air Force working together, so it is only right to place an Air National Guard member into the Senior Enlisted Leader position,” said Maj. Gen. Max Haston, Tennessee’s Adjutant General. “Mark Harris has proven himself as a competent leader, advisor and motivator and I expect him to do great things in this role.”
In this position, Harris is responsible for advising the Adjutant General on all enlisted matters affecting training and utilization, health of the force, and professional development of the more than 14,000 Tennessee National Guard Soldiers and Airmen.
“We are continually pushing forward as a joint force in Tennessee. This is the greatest opportunity and challenge of my 28 year career,” said Harris. “I am very excited to lead Tennessee’s awesome enlisted force.”
Harris is only the state’s 5th Senior Enlisted Leader and is the first Air National Guard member to hold the position.
“I have received an incredible welcome from the Tennessee Army National Guard and I have felt the excitement from the Tennessee Air National Guard about this opportunity,” he added.
Prior to becoming the state’s Senior Enlisted Leader, Harris served as the Command Chief Master Sergeant for the Tennessee Air National Guard Joint Force Headquarters, where he served as the senior advisor to the Assistant Adjutant General for Air on quality-of-life issues and concerns for the 3000 plus enlisted members of the Tennessee Air National Guard.
Harris was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and attended Volunteer State Community College prior to enlisting in the Tennessee Air National Guard at Joint Base Berry Field in 1988. He was initially assigned as C-130 Crew Chief until selected as a Flight Engineer in 1990.
While a traditional Guardsman, he was employed as a heating and air conditioning technician and later as a police officer. In 2001, he became a full-time Guardsman. He has also served as Formal Training Unit Flight Engineer Course Manager and as Flight Engineer technician supervisor. Later, he assumed the role of Group Chief and cross-trained to sensor operator while establishing the foundation and developing personnel for Reaper Operations.
In November 2013, Chief Harris was selected as the Wing Command Chief for the 118th Wing in Nashville, Tenn., prior to becoming the state Command Chief for the Tennessee Air National Guard Joint Force Headquarters in 2015.
“I believe both the Air and Army can learn a lot from this opportunity. As an Enlisted Corps, we all need to develop true leaders from the inside out and bottom up – internalize our core values as we demonstrate by doing what is right and have hard conversations during feedback sessions,” said Harris.
| Date Taken: | 08.04.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.08.2017 11:22 |
| Story ID: | 244163 |
| Location: | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, US |
| Web Views: | 167 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, TN National Guard names Air Guard CCM to Senior Enlisted Leader, by MSgt Robin Brown, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
