On Thursday morning, Fort Carson welcomed its new senior enlisted leader, Command Sgt. Maj. Waylon D. Petty, who previously worked at the U.S. Army Armor School.

Petty was also the command sergeant major at Armor School in Fort Benning, Ga., an institution focusing on developing leaders and training soldiers on the Abrams tank, Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Stryker.

Before Armor School, he worked as the brigade command sergeant major at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif.

Maj. Gen. David Doyle praised Petty’s experience at a ceremony on the parade grounds.

“No doubt his operational experience with mechanized units and with his institutional knowledge gained at the National Training Center and the armor school, will make him an outstanding fit for the Ivy Division,” Doyle said.

Fort Carson is home to two Stryker brigades and an armored brigade, equipped with Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

The 2nd Stryker Brigade is deployed to the border with Mexico, and 1st Stryker Brigade arrived in South Korea in recent weeks, an Army news release said.

Petty replaced Command Sgt. Maj. Alexander Kupratty, who left the division in early May.

Contact the writer at mary.shinn@gazettedev.gazette.com or 719-429-9264.