Marine Sgt. Maj. Troy Black is not being extended beyond his initial two-year term as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or SEAC, Task & Purpose has confirmed.
The enlisted member who holds the SEAC position, which rotates between services, is considered the highest-ranking enlisted member in the military, though the role is to serve as the advisor of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs rather than as a direct supervisor within a chain of command.
Black is not, an official insists, being “fired.”
In his two years in the role, Black’s most prominent public statements may have been a call to eliminate fast food outlets from military bases, which he linked to general fitness across the enlisted corps.
“If you want to reduce obesity, serve different types of food at the chow hall,” Black said during an interview with the MOPs & MOEs podcast in August. “Remove immediately all fast-food restaurants from all installations.”
He also has publicly shared his personal struggle in wondering for years if he could have done more to save a Marine under his command who was killed in Afghanistan
Prior to assuming his current job, Black served as the sergeant major of the Marine Corps from July 2019 to August 2023. As of Tuesday, the Pentagon has not publicly released any information about exactly why Black is leaving the job. Military.com first reported on Monday that Black is departing.
The move comes after a meeting between Black and Air Force Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, who was recently confirmed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a U.S. official, who stressed that Black is not being fired.
Black is the fifth service member to be appointed SEAC. He was selected for the role by Army Gen. Mark Milley, who retired before Black assumed the responsibilities of the job. Black initially served as the senior enlisted advisor to Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr., whom President Donald Trump fired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in February.
The senior enlisted advisors are appointed for a two-year term and can be reappointed for another two years, the U.S. official told Task & Purpose.
Most of the other senior enlisted advisors have served in the job for about four years, but the first SEAC retired after spending nearly three years in the role.
The Joint Staff has submitted a request to the military branches asking them to nominate senior enlisted leaders with “a warrior ethos” and “strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills” and other strengths needed for the job to replace Black, the U.S. official said.
Black is expected to stay in his current role until late summer or early fall, said the U.S. official, who added that Caine has “the greatest respect and admiration” for Black, and the transfer of responsibility to the next SEAC will be “a normal turnover change in office.”
During his time as SEAC, Black has spoken about the importance of improving troops’ “human performance” by addressing issues, including poor nutrition, leading to his comments on fast food.
He also has spoken about a 2010 event in which one of his Marines was killed in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device. The Marine, Black told the Zero Blog Thirty podcast, had broken with procedure and accidentally set it off with his foot. Since then, Black has been convinced that he might have been able to prevent the Marine’s death if the unit had practiced just one more time on how to clear explosive devices.
“You’re talking about living with guilt,” Black said at the time. “The fact of the matter is you don’t know [whose fault the Marine’s death was]. You asked what my biggest failure was: Probably not doing that one more time.”
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