Army suspends drill sergeant school chief - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Army suspends drill sergeant school chief

The first female commandant of the Army’s school for drill sergeants at Fort Jackson, S.C., has been suspended from her position, according to an Army official.

Command Sgt. Maj. Teresa L. King was placed on suspension pending further review and investigation, a spokesperson for Initial Military Training Center of Excellence said.

King, a 28-year Army veteran, gained notoriety when she took the helm at the Drill Sergeant School in September 2009.

In 2010, King was named to Oprah Winfrey’s “20 women rocking the world” power list and appeared in the October 2010 issue of Oprah Magazine, noted WIS-TV, a local television station that was first to report that King was suspended.

“She is still the commandant of the school. She is not carrying out the duties as commandant,” said Stephanie Slater, a spokesperson for the command.

Slater would not elaborate on the circumstances behind King’s suspension, citing the ongoing investigation and King’s privacy.

“This is an internal personnel action, and we want to respect Command Sgt. Maj. King’s privacy,” Slater said. “We can’t release any further details.”

King’s deputy commandant, Sgt. Maj. Robert E. Maggard, is now acting commandant. Maggard is a 30-year Army veteran.

King rose to become the first female first sergeant named to oversee the headquarters company of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, N.C., a unit with 500 paratroopers, 22 sergeants major, 22 colonels and three general officers.

She has served in South Korea and Europe, and held jobs at NATO and the Pentagon, yet despite those accomplishments, she has not deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan through 10 years of war.

King has the nickname of “Sergeant Major No Slack” after the “noslack” vanity plates on her black Corvette.