Army suspends commandant of Drill Sergeant School

By Army News ServiceDecember 15, 2011

FORT MEADE, Md. (Army News Service, Dec. 15, 2011) -- Command Sgt. Maj. Teresa King has been suspended from her duties as commandant of the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant School at Fort Jackson, S.C., pending resolution of an investigation.

King, a 30-year Army veteran, is the first female commandant of the school.

King was removed from her duties as a result of information received by the deputy commanding general of Initial Military Training, Maj. Gen. Richard C. Longo.

The U.S. Drill Sergeant School is part of IMT, which falls under the Army's Training and Doctrine Command.

The investigation is part of an internal personnel action. Officials from TRADOC said details of the investigation cannot be released, out of respect for King's privacy.

"If we outline the allegations, people will jump to conclusions that she is guilty of those allegations," said Col. Chris Kubik, a TRADOC spokesman. "We don't want any sort of prejudgment. There may not be any substantiation to it, so we don't want to mar Sgt. Maj. King's good name -- she does have a distinguished record and we don't want anybody prejudging her."

It is Army policy to not comment upon ongoing personnel actions, he said "Normally we don't release that."

During the investigation, Sgt. Maj. Robert E. Maggard, deputy commandant of the Drill Sergeant School, is acting as commandant. "There has been no break in the continuity of leadership there," Kubic said.

King still retains her title as the commandant of the school.

The Drill Sergeant School Course, taught at the school, teaches noncommissioned officers to perform as drill sergeants for new Soldiers first entering the Army. Drill sergeants will eventually be responsible for training about 60 new Soldiers during each 10-week cycle of Initial Entry Training.

(U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Initial Military Training Center of Excellence public affairs office contributed to this story)