Army Trailblazer Vindicated After 12-Year Fight Against Racism and Sexism

CSM King was first woman to lead the Army’s Drill Sergeant School before secret allegations forced her out of her job

COLUMBIA, S.C., Aug. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — More than a decade after being forced out of the Army by unfounded allegations, Command Sergeant Major [Retired] Teresa King has been vindicated by an Army review board.

CSM King has long contended that the allegations, motivated by racism and sexism, ruined her career and forced her out of the Army and that certain officials had fostered an environment of racial and gender prejudice. CSM King appealed to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABMCR) asserting that racism and sexism was behind a series of investigations and a negative Non-Commissioned Officer Evaluation Report (NCOER) that destroyed her career and forced her to retire. The ABCMR found that the record she presented supported her allegations and the negative NCOER was an injustice to her achievements for “not only the period covered, but her entire career.”

CSM King made history in 2009 when she became the first woman chosen to serve as Commandant of the Army’s Drill Sergeant School at Fort Jackson garnering national attention including being featured on Oprah Winfrey’s 2010 Power List alongside the likes of Diane Sawyer and future Vice President Kamala Harris.

That came crashing down in December 2011 when CSM King was suspended from her position by the deputy commanding general in charge of the Army’s basic and advanced individual training. CSM King was later reinstated in May 2012 after a six-month investigation cleared her of the allegations but was forced to give up her job just days later. The nature of the allegations was never revealed.

CSM King has been fighting for more than a decade to clear her name and have her records cleaned of the stain left by those false allegations and attacks on her character and achievements.

“I gave my life to the Army and they tried to take my good name. That’s why I kept getting up no matter how many times they knocked me down,” CSM King explains. “I can’t get back my career or the years they took from me. But I got back my life and my honor back. That’s a real victory.”

Click HERE to read Army documents vindicating CSM King.

SOURCE Command Sergeant Major [Retired] Teresa King