ARLINGTON, Va. - The National Guard bid farewell to its top enlisted leader, Senior Enlisted Advisor Tony Whitehead, after 42 years of military service and welcomed SEA John T. Raines III as the new senior enlisted advisor to the chief, National Guard Bureau, during a change of responsibility ceremony Nov. 8.
Air Force Gen. Steven Nordhaus, who recently became the 30th chief of the National Guard Bureau, presided over the ceremonies that celebrated Whitehead’s career and ushered in a new era of enlisted leadership at the NGB.
“Today, we celebrate two men of extraordinary character who have elevated the National Guard and everyone in it,” Nordhaus said at Conmy Hall, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall. “We celebrate dedicated service members and principled leaders who — without exception — put people first. Every day, we strive to make the National Guard better than the day before, and our senior enlisted leaders are a big part of our success.”
Whitehead reflected on his four decades of service and thanked the Guard for giving him the opportunity and training to become something bigger than himself.
“Becoming a member of the National Guard was not a part of my career path, nor was being a career Airman,” Whitehead said. “It’s interesting how we make decisions that seem short term, like joining the military, but once we’re there, we find out that possibilities are endless. And here I am today.”
Nordhaus passed the SEA positional colors to Raines, ceremoniously signifying him as the seventh senior enlisted advisor to the chief and the first Army leader to wear the distinctive rank insignia of the SEA.
Raines will represent more than 430,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen as the senior enlisted voice. He will serve as the CNGB’s principal military adviser on all enlisted matters affecting training, readiness, health and morale, and enlisted professional development.
“Today is also a day of new beginnings, as John Raines assumes responsibility as the senior enlisted advisor,” said Nordhaus. “For decades, John has been a warfighter, senior enlisted leader, husband, father, teammate, and friend, and set an honorable example by living his core values every day.”
Raines brings over 35 years of military service, beginning with nine years on active duty as an Army communications specialist (31N) and an infantryman (11B) before transitioning to the Army National Guard.
“I was a communications guy through Desert Shield and Desert Storm, but I had always wanted to be an infantryman,” Raines said. “Like many people who join the military, I didn’t know my options. Well, after three years of being in the military, I knew what I wanted to be, so the Army allowed me to reclass to an infantryman, and I have held that MOS ever since.”
After almost a decade of service, Raines looked at options outside the military. “I started wondering, ‘What do I want to do for the rest of my life?’ I wanted to cut my own grass, take care of my own house and see my kids play sports,” he said.
When he left active duty, he returned home. “My dad was a district fire chief in Montgomery, Alabama, which is both my wife’s and my hometown.”
Raines was a firefighter until years later when, on Sept. 11, 2001, he felt a calling to serve again. “I was getting off work from the Montgomery Fire Department when the first plane flew into the World Trade Center. I knew at that time period, it was time to get back in and serve again.”
He drove to the Alabama National Guard headquarters and never looked back.
Raines has served as the 13th sergeant major of the Army National Guard since 2022. Before that, he was the command senior enlisted leader of the Mississippi National Guard, the Mississippi Army National Guard state command sergeant major, and the Joint Operations Directorate, J3, senior enlisted leader of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
As the SEA, Raines explained that one of his responsibilities is to gauge the morale of the troops.
“My role as the senior enlisted advisor is to serve as a sensor,” he said. “This means ensuring that our policies are effective, that our Soldiers and Airmen have the necessary resources to perform their duties and, ultimately, to communicate the story of the Guard.”