Command Sgt. Maj. Donna Brock, the Army’s current longest serving enlisted female soldier, is set to retire at a ceremony in San Antonio, TX, on Oct. 24.
Command Sgt. Maj. Donna Brock, the Army’s longest serving enlisted female soldier, will retire later this month after more than 35 years of service.
Brock, who is of Black and Latino descent, told the AFRO that while her military career may be over, her service to others will continue—after a relatively brief but well-earned vacation, of course.
Brock entered the military in 1979 and became a combat medic, an occupational specialty she has maintained throughout her career. She currently serves as the Command Sergeant Major of MEDCOM, the U.S. Army Medical Command, as well as the senior enlisted adviser to Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, who is both the first woman and first nurse to hold the position.
Brock spoke to the AFRO from her office in Virginia and said that, in her experience, “the military has done a fantastic job in making sure that we were diverse across the board as far as race and ethnicity,” but that there was a need for more senior female officers to mentor the upcoming generation.
“As I had come along through my military career, I had many mentors—all male,” said Brock. “Which is actually not a bad thing because I learned quite a bit from them . . . but the one thing that I could see as I was growing throughout the time was that I seemed to become one of those mentors—if you will—throughout my years as I became . Whether I wanted to or not, it happened.”
Brock has been committed to mentoring fellow women throughout her career, noting that many enlisted women choose to retire when they first become eligible for benefits after 20 years of service, often to finish raising their children. She says the thing she is most often asked about by her female colleagues is how she, with two children, managed to balance her duty with her home life.
“We tend to shy away from the family side and focus on the military side when we should be figuring out what is the best way to balance them both, so that there’s a positive outcome on both sides,” said Brock.
As she looks to retirement, Brock says that she is likely to stay connected to the military. After a two-month vacation to decompress, she plans to coach and mentor part-time at the Army’s leadership school, the Pre-Command Course at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
In addition to continuing her three decades of mentoring, she also sees herself remaining in the area of military medicine.
“I’ve had a real tug for myself getting involved with the VA ,” said Brock. “And it has nothing to do with any of the history that they’ve had in the past year or two, it all has to do with my interactions with veterans. Every time I walk into one of the veterans’ hospitals, there was something that just tugged at me, I just felt a connection.”
Whatever her future holds, Brock said “It will definitely be serving others. Definitely.”
ralejandro@afro.com