Nation's Top Drill Sergeant Is a Woman

(CBS)  When drill sergeants turn raw recruits into soldiers they are building the foundation of army combat readiness. Now, for the first time, the school that turns out these tough-as-nails officers is commanded by a woman. CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller got up early to see her at work.

Even before the sun is up, Commandant Sgt. Maj. Teresa King is making her rounds, making sure everyone stays on schedule and prepared to train the army's next generation of soldiers.

"I am still almost in shock," she said. "I was planning to retire"

After a 29-year career, King put retirement on hold last month because the army tapped her to be the first female commandant of the army's newly consolidated drill sergeant school at Fort Jackson, S.C. Now king oversees the training of the army's entire pool of future drill sergeants.

"Training is my forte," King said. "I expect people to meet standards and exceed them."

Still, when King's promotion was announced, critics charged at a time when the country is at war, she is a woman with no combat experience.

"There was the typical grumblings of 'Hey it should be a guy," said newly-trained Staff Sgt. Gary Robertson.

It's a stark reminder that while women make up 14 percent of the army's active duty personnel, they are only 8 percent of the army's highest ranking non-commissioned officers and are still barred from holding frontline combat positions.

But King dismisses critics, pointing to the combat vets she's already trained. She says she's successful because they are - because she trained them to be.

The concept of a drill sergeant has been around since the American Revolution, but wasn't made official until 1964. The task of a drill sergeant is to train a better soldier - training that could mean life or death on the battlefield.

"In the real world of Iraq and Afghanistan we expect soldiers to go over there and do what they have to do and come back alive," King said.

This year, the school will graduate nearly 2,000 new drill sergeants. In this latest class of 96, 16 are women.

"I am excited about it. Hopefully they'll be more females," said another new drill sergeant, Melanie Washington.

King's just making sure that they're qualified and up to the challenge - giving everyone the chance to be all they can be.

[brian2kathleen]

"Babysitting and paper pushing is my forte."

That's what should have been this woman's statement. I'm about 90% sure this was my drill sargeant at Fort Jackson in 1999. She basically woke us up in the morning and tucked us in at night. That was all that I saw of her in basic training. The rest of the day was lead by two male drill officers biding their time until retirement. They were nice enough guys, but pushovers, and this kind of experience in basic training was one of the main reasons I decided to get out of the Army. I actually remember one drill sargeant giving my platoon a lecture and, when he found himself competing with the meaningless conversation of a few recruits, said,"Now, come on, guys, listen up; I don't want to have to yell at you guys to get you to listen."

It was not the Army I had grown up hearing about from older veterans. I expected to be broken and rebuilt, and instead I found out that it was the Army that had been broken a long time before I arrived. Apparently, it won't be rebuilt in the foreseeable future. Sad.

Now, I'm not saying that Sgt. King is not a fine, patriotic person. But I feel certain, based on my experience with her and what I am reading in this article, that she was promoted because she is a good administrator, not because she is the model combat trainer for new recruits.

I'm sure she would have been a good administrator in any government bureaucracy. It's a shame she settled on the Army, and a shame that the Army settled on her.

[brian2kathleen]

An addendum... for a top-to-bottom view of how the Army descended to this level, checkout Colonel David Hackworth's autobiography, About Face, the career story of the youngest full Colonel in the history of the U.S. Army. Engrossing and enlightening from start to finish, even for a non-military reader, it can be found for sale on Amazon or anywhere else, for that matter.

[brian2kathleen]

Sorry... I meant to say drill sergeants, not drill officers.

[wyodutch]

Does the Army still allow the female recruits to run around te obstacles while the males recruits have to go over them? That was the way it was about ten years ago.
.
I think female clerk-typists are fine... but combat troops? Ever seen a female trooper take a whiz from a moving M1A2 tank?

[stryker54]

Not to sound racist, but I think Obama had something to do with this. He's trying to blend the country with leaders from the minority section. This lady was ready to retire, what brought her back, being the first female in the army to be in charge of drill sergeant school?

[armyoftwelve]

LIke I said...top ARMY drill sergeant.

[tvnupe08]

The ARMY is the only military division that calls "drill Sergeants" officially drill sergeants.. in the Navy/Marines they are called Drill Instructors(DIs)... in the AirForce -- Airmen Training Instructors (ATIs)

So to say the top Drill Sergeant is correct.

Its probably best to have facts before one spouts off.

[weilunduser]

Only a couple of comments...
1st to CBS. Stop biasing numbers to get ratings. 14% Active duty women but only 8% of the top enlisted. Way to get the hackles of the women. Check out how many women get out after their first or second enlistment, vs the men...if you think about it you will not be surprised, per capita women leave the military for child rearing/marriage and so on. Wheras men remain in the military for the same reasons (to support said family).

Now do I mind women in the military? Nope, but then again...
Selective Service (men only)? Prohibited from direct combat missions? Standards variations (physical training, dress and appearance -hair-)

There's tons more, but the real problem is how women are treated, by old standards (civilian & military). The military is a rough place on purpose, people die, they kill or they help to kill (yes, if you work for the DoD you help in the war effort, heck if you pay taxes you've put a few bucks in for someone to kill or be killed).
If you treat women as substandard troops then they will be.
Can a woman be top dog? I believe so; and she may even have the respect of peers and subordinates. Will all women? NO! Not until women are forced to face the EXACT SAME situations as male counterparts. This includes all aspects of military life to include hair, uniforms, physical abilities, combat.
As I recall, women and men are made of the same basic stuff, and bullets don't care what sex you are...

USAF Active duty 13 years.

[tvnupe08]

The ARMY is the only military division that calls "drill Sergeants" officially drill sergeants.. in the Navy/Marines they are called Drill Instructors(DIs)... in the AirForce -- Airmen Training Instructors (ATIs)

So to say the top Drill Sergeant is correct.

Its probably best to have facts before one spouts off.

[Virgil-1]

This farce should help win the war.(sarcasm)!!

[veteran7796]

Yes, top ARMY drill sergeant. Boy, the media LOVES to hype up the female empowerment movement of this day and age. Wow, she is a WOMAN in charge!!

First off, it's the ARMY...not the NATION. More media hype. Second, she has never served a day in combat!! Furthermore, if women are equal to men (which they arent in a natural environment)...then why do they make up only 14% of the enlisted service? The military does NOT discriminate based on gender for recruitment and promotion is strictly a pass/fail basis without regard for gender, race...etc. So, why aren't women lining up to enlist? They aren't!!

I mean, the military is the perfect place for a woman to recieve equal pay. Despite the fact of course that they do less push-ups, sit ups, run times, do not go into combat and women primarily go into training, personnel, adminstrative or medical positions anyway in the service and MOST avoid maintenance jobs. I know...I was in for 13 years. Well, the reality of it is...women cry for equal pay, equal opportunities...but they will only seek out the opportunities that they like or benefit them. Hard labor and dangerous jobs are primarily filled by men and the women ARENT in these positions by CHOICE. Im so sick of being an intelligent, 250lb weighlifter, single father, and combat veteran having to pretend or tolerate a society that makes men look weaker, dumber and less capable than women in every category. Which is ENTIRELY not the case. This woman was handed this job...I guarantee there are MANY more higher qualified individuals than her. It's just that hiring them doesn't look good to the media or for gender diversity.

If they hired a female who served in combat, who KNOWS what it's like...I would have respected that. I cannot respect this. At all.

[armyoftwelve]

It should say "top ARMY drill sergeant."