Joint Chiefs Chairman Caine Decides Not to Keep Senior Enlisted Adviser, Breaking with Past Precedent
Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, Troy Black, speaks at an all-call on Scott Air Force Base,
Illinois, January 9, 2024. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Senior Airman Madeline
Baisey)
Posted: April 22, 2025 --- Military.com | By Konstantin Toropin
Published April 21, 2025, at 6:00pm ET
The military's top enlisted adviser -- a senior adviser
to the Joint Chiefs Chairman -- will be stepping down in the months to come,
Pentagon officials told Military.com. U.S. Marine
Corps Sergeant Major (E9) Troy Black will depart the post and
retire from military service after the newly confirmed Joint Chiefs
chairman, Air Force General (O10, 4-star) Dan
Caine, chose not to renew Black's posting for another two-year stretch, one
official said.
However, that defense official stressed that, while Black would not be serving in the senior enlisted adviser (SEAC) to the Chairman, role for as long as his predecessors, the move was not a firing and that Caine "has the greatest respect and admiration for SEAC Black." Chairman Caine's decision not to give Black another term appears to be one of his 1st major moves in the Joint Chiefs chairman role since he was confirmed and took over earlier this month.
Trump handpicked Caine, despite his retirement from the military and not meeting the qualifications for the job. Sergeant Major Black came to the role in the summer of 2023 after serving as the Marine Corps' top enlisted service member, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. Then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Mark Milley named Black to the position that serves as the chairman's "direct tie to the enlisted force."
Black, then a 35-year Marine veteran, relieved Air Force Chief Master Sergeant (E9) Ramón "CZ" Colón-López, who had served in the SEAC job for 4 years. The official said that, while Black's predecessors like Colón-López served 4-year terms, the SEAC job is actually a 2-year post with an option to be extended 2 more years -- an option that Caine will not be exercising. The official who spoke with Military.com did so on the condition of anonymity to be able to discuss personnel matters more candidly.
Despite their assurances that the move was not a firing,
the two-year term appeared to be unanticipated on Black's part. On his official website, Black
outlined a "4-year plan" that includes transitioning
to his successor in year 4. Black is only the 5th person to hold the
job since the position was created in 2005. 3 of his predecessors served for 4
years, while the 1st SEAC served for only 3 years.
From 2008 to 2011, while Admiral Mike Mullen was Joint
Chiefs Chairman, the post went unfilled. Overall, the posting is relatively
obscure, and the service members who have held the job have been relatively
unknown compared to their service-level counterparts who have taken on leading
roles in shaping service-level policy that
directly affects troops, helping raise awareness and funds, or serving
as an example of what women can achieve in
the service.
Black focused some of his efforts on boosting fitness in
the military as well as how military leaders manage their enlisted force -- a
goal that he had as the Marine Corps' top enlisted adviser as well. "A
holistic human performance system is being developed right now in order to make
sure that we talk about our mental, physical, behavioral, spiritual and
emotional or social fitness," Black told troops at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, in February.
"We focus on the physical as the end state, but the
fact of the matter is we are machines encased as humans; we don't just do one
thing," he said. Black's background as a machine gunner and his
battlefield accomplishments drew attention early in his tenure as the
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, but he would go on to speak regularly about
improving quality of life for average Marines.
Black used his time in that job to speak to the press and Congress about policy changes or improvements that were being made with an eye toward making service in the Corps less challenging. Black often referenced his wife, a retired First Sergeant (E7), as a source of inside knowledge on the challenges that come with a military lifestyle. The official who spoke with Military.com said he expected Black to retire from the military in the summer or early fall.
