E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSFeb. 1: Sargeant Major Teresa King discusses her background and how she has accomplished historic success in the U.S. Army. King hopes her success will inspire other women in the military.
A woman who made headlines when she became the first female commander of the Army’s elite drill sergeant school has been replaced, just days after she was reinstated to the post after a suspension, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Command Sgt. Maj. Teresa King, who is black, was suspended for unexplained reasons some six months ago. She filed a legal complaint over that suspension, arguing it was a result of racism and sexism from other soldiers.
On May 4 it was announced that she was being reinstated. The Army said the accusations against her, which reportedly included that she abused her power, couldn’t be substantiated.
Her battle to stay on the job was chronicled in The New York Times last week.
But on Wednesday, the Army headquarters in charge of the drill sergeant school at Fort Jackson, S.C., said there would be a change in command, the AP reported.
King told the news service she will remain in the Army and fight for her reputation.
The Army named her successor as Command Sgt. Maj. Michael McCoy.
Army spokesman Harvey Perritt told AP that it was determined to be "in the best interests of the Drill Sergeant School that she relinquish her duties as commandant this Thursday, May 17. This date reflects a normal tour length and is based on the arrival of the incoming commandant.”
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Terror case: Family wins $323 million from Iran, Syria
- Hawaii first state to ban plastic bags at checkout
- Veterans to return war medals in protest
- 'Mama bear' sued by church over online criticism
- Trio lured Marine wife to her death, prosecutors say
- Video: Dad of sole plane crash survivor: It's a miracle
Leave a Comment:
Men have already turned their backs on their souls when they kill. Ok - Blind Loyalty - FOR MONEY - Kill Murder, Slay all who The Authority tell you too!@ How STUPID is that??? and How INSANE???!!!
And now you sucked the females in...ANTI-Life! it is JUSY WRONG, but the females CERTAINLY MAKE EVERYTHING MUCH MORE INTERESTING FOR THE MALES DON'T THEY!!! dESTROY THE HUMAN RACE !!! Be the "winner' in the end!
Hear me roar.
Rant aside, the people who reach that level aren't the nicest.
Hey LADY, WE KILL so you and your baby can sleep in safety.
You should either thank us for the protection we provide you or just plain shut the "H" up!
If it weren't for a well equipped military to watch over you you would live in a world of bad guys and rape. Read your history.
Woman are just idiots that should have no voice.
They get in the way, talk to much and provide nothing but bills and attitude.
Please seek mental help, you are very ill.
@MaryAnn4288089: A bit over the top perhaps?
No kidding, considering (we assume) that Mary Ann is a woman. Go figure.
ALWAYS racism and sexism
It will always be so. Frustrating, incomprehensible, but right there in front of all of us. Skin color and shape, simplicity itself. No need for thought, thinking or any activity above the neck. Perhaps in centuries to come.
Well said Karey Clark.
My time in the military was over 13 years and what "I" seen was the promotion of Blacks and Women over well qualified soldiers.
You can believe the spin any way you want.
They did it because the minorities whined and complained.
They got promoted despite the ramifications of their actions or ability to do their job.
The same as COED Basic Training and getting rid of curse words during cadence calls.
NOW not only is all these pimples coming to a head and proving the experts right over politics the military is weaker for it.
You see day in and day out more and more soldiers committing suicide after being over burdened as well as demoralized by not getting recognized during a promotion or honors because they have to give it to some under achiever or gay idiot to be politically correct.
Call me Neanderthal but I am 100% correct whether you accept it or not.
I feel for this idiot for being put in a job that she could not handle but Oh Well, Suck it up and drive on or call your congressman if you don't like it.
I'm calling you illiterate. It's very difficult to take anything you say seriously when your grammar is so poor and your command of the language so weak.
If you are an example what the military turns out then I believe this woman is well away from it.
I hate to tell you but the Military trained me to be a great killer of the Enemy and a leader of men.
My GRAMMAR came from the wonderful American Education system and the C student mentality that created our wonderful country.
But, at least I went out and fought for what I thought was right while you weak idiot sit around MacDonalds and become fat sows.
Soccer moms that complain and pump out a water head so you can put a Terrific Kid bumper sticker on your car to show how special Ashly is.
When you get to large for your trailer then you spend your bingo money up at WalMart riding around on your scooter wasting the rest of humanities air.
See, only the ELITE get proper education and the fortune 500 jobs while we the grunts do what they are to cowardly and weak to do which is to destroy the enemy and break his toys.
Wow. Let's not hear all the facts before we come to a conclusion. Was it racism or sexism or was she not doing her job? I don't believe there is enough information in this story for anyone here to make a convincing claim either way but that certainly isn't stopping many here from trying.
I am inclined to agree on some levels. In situations where peoples lives are at stake, I don't think the primary concern should be affirmative action. I am all for equality, be it race or sex, but not at the cost of zipping someone up in a body bag.
Wow, Maryann you sound very angry. I too spent several years in the military and never once shoved that into anyone's face. I did what I did for my own reasons but I know it's not for everyone. The US military is an ALL volunteer one. Would you like those who don't want to be in to be forced to work/fight besides you? Not me. No way.
While I agree things have gotten too soft in and outside of the military, not everyone who does not join the are fat, fast food junkies or people of Walmart. Many are well educated, healthy, moralistic and yes even more disciplined than some of the soldiers I've seen. I've seen my fair share of lazy chunky monkeys in uniform who have no business serving besides others who take their jobs seriously. By the way, have you ever seen an military post that does not have a Burger King? I remember there being one while deployed to, Kosovo. It was right next to the Cinnabon. Also, Walmart is never far off post.
As for the Elite getting educated, well, I see you didn't take advantage of your GI Bill because I did and am now living the American dream. You get out of it what you put in. If you stop putting yourself above everyone else and stop making up excuses, you might get rid of some of that anger and make some progress..
There have been other articles published about this case. This woman was despised by many in the community and it was felt that she was not qualified since she had never even been in a combat zone. She had the gall to say that being in a combat zone would have no impact on her ability or the knowledge necessary for her to do her job. She apparently was almost universally disliked for her style and approach, choosing to try and bully and talk down to people instead of trying to earn respect and build unit cohesion. There were numerous formal complaints, at least eight that I read about, filed against her and I find it very hard to believe that all of them were based on her race or sex. Who knows how many additional informal complaints were lodged against her, but with the many formal ones I can only assume there were many. That many complaints indicates as a minimum a failure of leadership that would warrant her removal from her position. The cries of racism and sexism are often the last refuge of the incompetent who have been promoted above the level of their abilities and get called out for it. It is about time that the military stopped running scared every time a woman or minority uses this defense for their own incompetence or lack of fitness for a position and stood their ground on these cases. It has gotten so bad that in most cases just the threat of claiming racism or sexism is enough to send leadership scurrying and the incompetent not only keeping their job, but often getting promoted to boot. This is putting our military members at risk from these incompetents and things needs to change. I am glad to see that in this case at least, someone in the leadership came to their senses and removed her from her post.
Or maybe she just sucked at the job. why does it always have to be racism or sexism? Go find something you are good at and that way you won't have to complain.
Very well said.
Neanderthal
Are u insinuating the blks and women were not qualified for the hire ? How do u know she can't handle the job. From what i read, reasons for her suspension could not be substantiated and her removal of post is about as vague as the ocean floor. It sounds like a witch hunt to get rid of someone and trying to desperately use anything possible to do so. You, me and anyone else when we're accused of wrongdoing, we want to know clearly what it is in black and white the problem and no beating around the bush. I have a problem when higher ups cannot or will not give open reasons for discipline. At the very least you give the impression of trying to hide something.
Even in the military do the "Blacks" cry racism and sexism. Maybe she was relieved of duty prior because she was a poor leader. Or maybe she "thought" that she had something coming because she is black. None the less, she is being relieved due to normal shift of command time limits.
Proub to be an American, proud to have served in the military, proud of the American Flag, I am not proud of those that use race and sex for leverage.
How the @!$%# dare you insinuate "Blacks" as a whole, you POS
What evidence do you have to support your claim, Rick 2416019? I too served in the military and I too am proud of my flag and country and yes, I'm black and proud.
You don't get to be a Command Sgt Major if you're a poor leader.
Actually Rick, She was suspended for supposedly being too much of a traditionalist and a Strict teacher of standard. According to the complaints at least. IN other words doing her job with too much focus on the traditions involved.
She was relieved of duty due to being at Mandatory retirement. It was a set term.
The fight was involving the suspension being motivated by sexism and racism. I believe it's more a case of "Hey, she hasn't been on the front lines, why should we respect her?"
Though I do have to say it's apparent you did not read previous articles on this matter.
Very nice. Let's just assume the military is right... you know, because they have such a long history of treating people of all races, genders and creeds fairly. They are completely without bias.
I think several of the people here who claim to have served address that issue pretty clearly.
Not always the case Mikeo76. I have known CSM's that participate in pedophilia, sexual assault, involved in barracks drug rings as well as DUI's. Clearly not attributes for your subordinates to emulate. My take on THAT is that even in the military, we are all human and not infallible. Also that the promotion system still needs a lot of work. Is affirmative action present? Most deifnitely... but I support it none the less. The alternative is stagnation...
Mike076, I was deployed with a 1SG who was the worse leader I've ever encountered in my military career. She didn't know sh*t from shinola. She was too full of herself to listen to anyone. If it weren't for her NCOs she'd been dead in the water. I remember I finding her 9mm in the shower. It took her 3 hours to realize she lost it. I foolishly returned it to her. We'd been better off if I turned it into the MPs, then it would've gone up to the battalion level and she may have been relieved of duty which would've been for the good of the task force. She did get a letter of reprimand from the commander. Later on, she lost her ID card and gotten another letter of reprimand. We had a townhall meeting and over 95% of the complaints were toward her and her leadership or lack thereof. She put in her packet for SGM. Six months after we redeployed, she was promoted. That proved the old saying, "you fu*k up, you move up".
Are u insinuating she used gender and racism for leverage ? How do u know her time limit of command is up. Is there another article stating this. To me it sounds like u read a lot into what only u want to hear and jump to huge conclusions
Relieved of duty just after being suspended. How convenient. It really sounds like the military got exactly what it wanted....her removed from her position. The suspension didn't work, let's try something else.
JUSY WRONG? Way to represent.
Without a doubt it was everyone else's fault in the Army and the two most obvious reasons for the U.S. Army's abusive behavior was her gender and race. We all know this is true, simply because she said so and there is no possible way that she abused her power. The end.
A little sarcasm goes a long way!
"Over hill over dale...and the caissons go rolling along."
I agree, it's always race and gender. MOST of the time it's more gender than race anymore, but, I think she has reached retirement age, and the military does not discriminate against that.
When it's time, it's time. We can all speculate all we want but the whole story has not be published and with the military her record probably will not be.
It's the sh*ts to get old, and be a female.
I havn't read lately about any "Whites" claiming foul when relieved of duty. If you have then let me know. It seems to me that the first words out of this Drill Sgt's mouth was "Racism, sexism". That's all I'm saying, keep with the article that was posted.
I've also noticed that Asian-Americans never seem to riot or demonstrate - and we penned them up in internment camps! They just quiely achieve success in their chosen field. Still, I expect litigation is a good way to pad retirement....
The US gov didn't enslaved them either nor created jim crow for asians and local gov doesn't racially profile them either.
The army was right to suspend her. She had something like 26 complaints filed against her from former students and other personel. If I had that many complaints they would suspend me from my position too. After the investigation they found that those complaints had no merit and reenstated her. I don't understand what the problem is? She has been in the army long enough to know these things. If she wants to go after someone she should make sure all those people that had false claims against her get in trouble for filing a false claim, not go after the army because she is at the end of her career.
So she had 26 complaints against her, that something that the news forgets to publish. Then the news article just happens to publish "she's black" as to incinuate that a "white female" wouldn't get the same coverage. I have seem wrong doing by both "Blacks & Whites", and maybe the news that publishes these articles needs to leave out what color individuals are, but that is how the news publishers sell the news.
George Zimmerman, "White?, Black?, Hispansic?" you tell me because I've read in different articles that he is all of these "People of Color".
Just drop her in the Panama jungle with just a knife.
Do a bad job. Divert attention by playing the race card. Sounds like a couple of other people in the news.
A WOMAN as drill sergeant? Please. I'd slap the sh-t out of her. Makes as much sense as female cops. Women are just much weaker physically than men, doesn't make sense to put them in the same physical class.
You are correct. We are not the same as men, and we should honor our differences, rather then insist on an "equality" that can never be.
You'd "slap the sh-t out of her"? You'd slap your own drill sergeant? Further proof that our military is filled with thugs, criminals and morons.
Slapping any Drill SGT male or female, is definitely not the way you'd want to begin your military career. It would be a very short and miserable one.
The second she went public sealed her fate!
Hmmmmmmmm. I wonder what REALLY happened. Figures though. Good luck trying to get your job back.
This happens frequently in the military and in civilian life when promotions/appointments are made based on criteria other than "Best Qualified". That's coming from experience in the military where they use the percentage/quota systems in promotions. Many will Deny it but the fact is promotion boards are giving instructions on what percentage of promotions must me certain criteria.
This happens frequently in the military and in civilian life when promotions/appointments are made based on criteria other than "Best Qualified". That's coming from experience in the military where they use the percentage/quota systems in promotions. Many will Deny it but the fact is promotion boards are giving instructions on what percentage of promotions must meet certain criteria. The bad thing now is they want to use this quota method for combat troops.
As a member of the US Army for 8 years, I saw firsthand the resentment promoting lesser qualified soldiers can have on unit cohesion. I saw more than my fair share of NCO's getting promoted who were obviously less qualified than others. It was harder for the Army to promote lesser qualified soldiers to SGT and SSG because it was a points-based system where "intangible qualities" were not considered. Everyone, and I mean everyone knew the best and most qualified might not get promoted, and that being a minority meant having a distinct advantage because of unspoken and unofficial allocations reserved for them. Everyone who has served knows this, may not admit it, but know it is true.
I don't care if the DI is black white green or blue, if they stand up to pee or sit down to pee. It makes no difference to me as long as they have leadership control and can TEACH. I'm pretty traditional and I have a Lotta respect for the people that do a thankless job. Without them you'd have no Army, Air force, Navy or Marines. If she wants to run a tight traditional ship that is fine with me. That's the way I run my business... The 6P's and the 4G's
I served as a First Sergeant in a basic training company when CSM King was a Battalion CSM at another basic training company at Fort Jackson, SC. Her reputation was of a tough, but fair, CSM who went by-the-book. I always looked to her as a role model because she came from an administrative background, yet rose through the ranks and took challenging positions in a male-dominated arena. I felt nothing but pride when she was selected to be the Commandant of the Drill Sergeant School. I only know what I have read in the Army Times about this case, but I hope that she is able to restore her reputation and retire with the diginity and pride that she has earned in her remarkable career. God speed CSM King.
Foxy-Seal, the first time you hit a Senior NCO, is likely to be the last time you see daylight without a barred window or cell door in the way. I hope you didn't make the military a career path when you were in secondary school...
People cry racism and sexism when a minority gets promoted (whether they deserve it or not) and then they turn around and cry racism and sexism when they get demoted for being a pos leader. There's something wrong with the world.
She was probably just a pos commander, didn't do her job properly, abused power. White Black Indian Man Woman, I don't care as long as the job is done correctly and the rules are followed.