SD Army Guard appoints first female to top enlisted position - KOTA Territory News

SD Army Guard appoints first female to top enlisted position

RAPID CITY, S.D. - The South Dakota Army National Guard appointed its first female to the highest ranking senior-enlisted position in the state during a change of responsibility ceremony Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Joint Force Headquarters building on Camp Rapid.

Command Sgt. Maj. Susan Shoe replaces State Command Sgt. Maj. Larry Zimmerman as the new state command sergeant major, the highest ranking noncommissioned officer position for the South Dakota Army National Guard.

Shoe becomes the first female to serve in the position, as well as the 8th state command sergeant major, since the position was first established in the state in 1975. In this role, Shoe will serve as the assistant adjutant general's personal advisor on all enlisted matters for the Army Guard.

"Command Sgt. Maj. Shoe was selected for this position from five of our top senior NCO applicants from within the Army National Guard," said Brig. Gen. Craig Johnson, assistant adjutant general of the SDARNG, during the ceremony. "Her personal qualifications, leadership ability, competency and can-do attitude distinguished her as the right person, at the right time, to lead our NCO Corps."

"This selection means a great deal to me, and I am honored to have been selected as the first female command sergeant major for South Dakota," said Shoe. "I have so much pride for the coyote patch on our left sleeve and I will champion its history and its future for those past and present and all this patch represents."

During the ceremony, many quests, friends and family members gathered to honor and thank Zimmerman for his service and to welcome Shoe as she begins her new assignment.