Release from the U.S. Department of Defense
*****
July 7, 2023 | By Jim Garamone
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley has named Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Troy E. Black to succeed Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramon “CZ” Colon-Lopez.
SEAC is the most senior enlisted rank in the U.S. military, and serves as the chairman’s direct tie to the enlisted force.
The transfer of responsibility ceremony will be November 3 along with Colon-Lopez’s retirement from the U.S. Air Force.
Black has spent 35 years in the Marine Corps. He attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, in April 1988. He has been the sergeant major of the Marine Corps since 2019.
Black served in Operation Just Cause, Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm and deployed numerous times to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Black began his career in the fleet as an infantry machine gunner serving in units from a fleet anti-terrorism security team company, to the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
He has successfully completed tours as a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina (where he met his wife, Stacie), and at the Officer Candidate School, Quantico, Virginia.
As a sergeant major, Black has served at the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment; Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st Marine Logistics Group and at Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs.
Black will be the fifth SEAC and the second Marine to hold the rank.
