Lt. Gen. Thomas R. Turner, commanding general of U.S. Army North, left, promotes Col. Sean B. MacFarland, second from left, the Joint Task Force North commander, to the rank of brigadier general. Assisting in the promotion ceremony is MacFarland’s wife, Lynda, and his father, Garth MacFarland, who placed the one star insignia on his newly promoted son’s beret. Photo by Armando Carrasco.
JTF North commander promoted to one-star
Armando Carrasco
JTF North Public Affairs
The Joint Task Force North commander, Col. Sean B. MacFarland, was promoted to the rank of brigadier general during a Friday promotion ceremony conducted at Old Fort Bliss.
MacFarland, who has commanded JTF North since June 10, was promoted by Lt. Gen. Thomas R. Turner, commanding general of U.S. Army North, the Joint Force Land Component Command of U.S. Northern Command. JFLCC assumed operational command of JTF North Wednesday.
“I watched Sean [MacFarland] in good times and I watched him in bad times. He is exactly the kind of officer that we need leading our armed forces, leading our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines in the 21st century,” said Turner.
“Sean is a leader that totally understands today’s operational environment, a leader that has proven in combat that he can conduct offensive, defensive and stability operations concurrently and achieves effects, to achieve ends, to win. And Sean is a leader that loves and cares for Soldiers,” said Turner.
MacFarland, who previously served with Turner in Germany and Iraq, first came to Fort Bliss after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1981.
“We are gathered at a replica of an old cavalry post because the formative part of my career was spent as a cavalry officer – a career that began right here at Fort Bliss in the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment,” said MacFarland, whose grandfather also served at Fort Bliss with the 82nd Horse Artillery Regiment. The house where his grandparents lived was located near the Old Fort Bliss replica. It was also in El Paso where he met and married his wife, Lynda.
MacFarland served as the operations officer (G-3) of V Corps from April 2004 to June 2005, prior to assuming command of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division – the “Ready First” Combat Team – in Friedberg, Germany.
While deployed to Iraq, 1-1 AD was responsible for Tal Afar and west Ninewah province for four months before moving to Ramadi, where they fought as a reinforced, joint Army/Marine brigade combat team for nine months. While in Ramadi, the Ready First initiated the Sunni tribal engagement strategy that turned Al Anbar province from the most hostile to the most peaceful province in Iraq in less than a year and has spread across Iraq. After redeploying and inactivating the brigade combat team, he served as chief of the Iraq division, plans and policy officer, the Joint Staff, for approximately one year before assuming command of JTF North.
After being promoted MacFarland said, “I wear these stars not to honor myself, but to honor the men and women who served and fought under my command. I wear them because they task me to be worthy of my fallen comrades in all things and to make their sacrifices count. I wear them because I know of no better way to continue to serve the cause they so nobly advanced.
“Even though these stars weigh just a few ounces, they rest heavily on my shoulders today as constant reminders of my obligations to duty, honor, country, and the memory of 96 American warriors who, while under my command, turned the tide of war in a terrible place, and made victory in Iraq not only possible, but put it within reach,” said MacFarland.
MacFarland’s old brigade combat team – along with the rest of the 1st Armored Div., which was previously stationed in Germany – will now be based here.