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Col. James Adams, commanding officer of Marine Aviation, Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1, presents the Legion of Merit to Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Warren following an Aug. 14 relief and appointment ceremony for Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity at Camp Pendleton, California. Warren retired after 30 years of service to the Corps and Sgt. Maj. Brandon C. Hall was appointed as the activity's new sergeant major.

Photo by Wil Williams, U.S. Marine Corps

Sergeant major bids farewell to MCTSSA, Corps

21 Aug 2014 | Wil Williams, Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity Marine Corps Systems Command

Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity welcomed Sgt. Maj. Brandon Hall as the activity’s new sergeant major during a relief and appointment ceremony Aug. 14 at Camp Pendleton, California. MCTSSA is a subordinate command to Marine Corps Systems Command. MCSC, headquartered in Quantico, Virginia, serves as the Department of Navy’s systems command for Marine Corps ground weapons and information technology programs.

MCTSSA’s sergeant major incumbent, Kenneth Warren, retired after 30 years of service to the Corps, handing over the role of senior enlisted advisor to Hall, the 29th Marine staff noncommissioned officer to occupy this post since the activity was established in 1970.

Prior to joining MCTSSA, Hall served as sergeant major in four other units: the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11, Marine Tactical Air Command Squadron 38 (MTACS-38), Marine Air Support Squadron 3 and Marine Wing Communications Squadron 38. Additionally, while serving with the MTACS-38, he also served as the Marine Air Control Group 38 (FWD) sergeant major on two deployments.

“Sergeant Major Warren has left a pretty good mark around here,” Hall said. “I look forward to working and looking into each one of the different aspects MCTSSA has to offer to protect our warfighter that’s down range. Nobody really knows all what MCTSSA does, but everybody—specifically the warfighter—benefits from its work.”

Warren’s retiring officer, Col. James H. Adams, commanding officer of Marine Aviation, Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1, noted that a few years in the Marine Corps is—for some— a very trying experience, but 30 years is an “amazing feat.”

“To do that and to do it so well; that’s very noteworthy,” Adams said. “It’s hard to capture in a brief amount of time—30 years of amazing sacrifice, amazing service and amazing leadership.”

Quoting comments former commander of Marine Corps Systems Command Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley wrote in Warren’s last fitness report, Adams said he believed Kelley’s vision of Warren’s legacy was exactly correct:

“Sergeant Major Warren is an authentic leader who has physical, intellectual, emotional and moral attributes that General [John] Lejeune instructed all to exemplify,” Adams said. “The Marines that served with him and for him will carry the Warren brand, perhaps not realizing how that will distinguish them. I carry that branding as do many of those in the audience.  Your influence will last for generations.”