Teresa L. King was born in 1961 in Clinton, North Carolina, and was the eighth of 12 children. She enlisted in the Army in 1980, where she attended Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
King began her service as a postal clerk in the 139th Postal Company, stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. She soon volunteered for and completed the Army Drill Sergeant School. Throughout her career, she served at Fort Dix, New Jersey; the Pentagon in Virginia; the first female first sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 18th Airborne Corps; and as command sergeant major of 3rd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment at Fort Jackson. She was inducted into the Order of St. Maurice, the Patron Saint of the Infantry, in 2005. Upon her retirement from the Army in May 2013, she received the Legion of Merit. She was inducted into the Drill Sergeant Hall of Fame in 2017 and was recognized by the National Women in Military Service to America Memorial.
Over the years, she earned an associate degree in General Studies from Northern Virginia Community College, a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies at Liberty University in 2014, and a Masters of Art and Theological Studies at Liberty University in 2023.
King’s post-retirement years were not without challenge, as she filed a $10 million administrative claim against the Army, highlighting issues of mistreatment and gender/racial discrimination. In 2023, she succeeded in having a negative performance appraisal from 2011 removed from her personnel record, solidifying her legacy as a resilient and accomplished military leader.
We honor her service.
Nominate a Veteran for Honoring Veterans
Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s Honoring Veterans social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.
It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to ne******@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.
Writer: Lara Walker
Editors: Labiba Hossain, Ethan Oleson
Researchers: Charmonie Baugh, Kelsey Burchard
Graphic Designer: Adeline Haynie
A portion of this story was generated by AI. None of the data we reported included personal or sensitive information, and it was fact-checked and edited by a human copy editor prior to publishing.
