Command Sgt. Maj. Harold “Ed” Jarrell has been relieved as the senior enlisted for the Army’s 1st Information Operations Command, an Army spokesperson confirmed, marking the third time within a month that the Army has fired a command sergeant major of a brigade or larger unit.
Jarrell was relieved on Tuesday “due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to lead effectively,” said Army Maj. Lindsay Roman, a spokeswoman for U.S. Army Cyber Command.
Jarrell’s firing comes one week after Command Sgt. Major Veronica E. Knapp was relieved as the senior enlisted leader for Joint Task Force-National Capital Region/United States Army Military District of Washington. On July 16, the Army also fired Command Sgt. Maj. Matthew Carlson,the former senior enlisted leader for the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vicenza, Italy.
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No information was immediately available on the specific reason why Jarrell was relieved. Military.com first reported on Thursday that Jerrell had been fired.
In all three recent firings, Army officials used the “loss of trust and confidence” euphemism to explain why the senior enlisted leaders were fired. The military branches often avoid saying exactly what has prompted officers and enlisted leaders to be relieved.
Brigade-level cyber unit
Though Jarrell’s unit is dubbed a ‘command,’ it is a brigade-level unit composed of two battalions garrisoned at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, making Jerrell the junior of the three recently relieved CSMs. The unit falls within the Army’s Intelligence and Security Command, which itself is a subordinate unit within Army Cyber Command. For military cyber units, ‘information operations’ covers the murky world of electronic warfare system, computer network operations or ‘hacking,’ psychological operations and deceptions.
the 1st IOC, according to its website, performs Info Environment Analysis, open source intelligence gathering and “social media overwatch.”
Jarrell enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1999 and transferred to the active-duty army 10 years later, according to his official biography. He is a former instructor at the U.S. Army Ranger School and he has deployed eight times in support of the Global War on Terrorism. His record indicates significant combat time
His military decorations include two Bronze Star Medals, five Meritorious Service Medals, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, five Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals, six Army Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, Afghan Campaign Medal (4 Campaign Stars), Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (1 service star), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal (with “M” Device), Armed Forces Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (Numeral 5), Army Service Ribbon, five Overseas Service Ribbons, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal (1 service Star), Joint Meritorious Unit Award (2nd award), Valorous Unit Award, two Meritorious Unit Citations, and the Army Superior Unit Award.