El Paso Times:
The way Command Sgt. Maj. Darrin L.M. Jefferies figures it, everyone has a “shelf life,” and at some point, it is time to move on to a different phase of life.
Jefferies, a 49-year-old from East Spencer, N.C., relinquished his position as the senior enlisted leader with the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command this week and is planning to retire. Friday also marks the 31st anniversary of the day he enlisted in the Army.
“I never want to get to the point of diminishing returns,” Jefferies said.
Jefferies has seen the young soldiers he has mentored over the years now become leaders themselves. He figures this is the perfect time to start moving toward the next stage of his life.
“I think it is time,” he said. “I am almost 50 and want to do something else and give back in some other way.”
He is succeeded by Command Sgt. Maj. Gerardo Dominguez, an El Paso native who most recently served as the staff and faculty director for the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.
Jefferies took over as the command sergeant major for the Blackjack Command in July 2013. This represented a homecoming for him and his wife, the former Deborah Maxwell, who is originally from Ohio but now considers El Paso home.
Jefferies spent about half of his career here at Fort Bliss and met his future wife when he was stationed here in 1989. They plan to stay in El Paso after he retires…
