{"id":1996,"date":"2013-11-03T19:11:06","date_gmt":"2013-11-03T19:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=1996"},"modified":"2017-07-20T19:21:13","modified_gmt":"2017-07-20T19:21:13","slug":"maryland-army-guard-gets-first-female-african-american-commander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2013\/11\/03\/maryland-army-guard-gets-first-female-african-american-commander\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Army Guard gets first female, African-American commander"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”2002″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1500578205437{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

Photos by Sgt. Regina Glott, 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1500578232398{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Article by Sgt. Crystal Hudson, 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1500578306565{margin: 0px !important;border-width: 0px !important;padding: 0px !important;}”]In a ceremony with more than 250 Soldiers attending, Brig. Gen. Linda L. Singh assumed command of the Maryland Army National Guard from Brig. Gen. Peter C. Hinz, at the Fifth Regiment Armory, Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

Hinz is retiring after more than 40 years of military service, and after three years as assistant adjutant general of Maryland-Army, the position that holds the responsibility of commanding all Maryland Army National Guard units.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so humbled and so honored, especially [in] the past three years as commander of the Maryland Army National Guard, by the quality of the force and the great work that everyone has done,\u201d said Hinz. \u201cBut I would like to challenge the members of the [Maryland] Army Guard to keep it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singh, the former director of the Maryland Army National Guard joint staff, becomes both the first woman and first African-American to command the Maryland Army National Guard.<\/p>\n

She recognizes the significance of her achievement and the motivation she provides to women and people with diverse backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Guard members from across the state gathered Nov. 3, 2013, as Brig. Gen. Linda L. Singh officially took command of the Maryland Army National Guard. She becomes the first female and the first African American to command the Maryland Army National Guard. Singh most recently served as director, Maryland National Guard joint staff, after returning from a deployment to Afghanistan with the 29th Infantry Division Headquarters. Singh replaced Brig. Gen. Peter C. Hinz, who has led the organization since June, 2010. (Photo by Sgt. Regina Glott, 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cPeople are looking to see that they have role models that look like them at the top,\u201d Singh said.<\/p>\n

She began her military career in 1981, and spent 11 years as an enlisted Soldier. In 1991, she earned distinguished graduate of the Maryland Army National Guard Officer Candidate School.<\/p>\n

Throughout her military career, she has served at levels of command ranging from company through regimental, as well as in various
\nstaff assignments.<\/p>\n

Singh has graduated from both the U.S. Army War College and the Army Command and General Staff College.<\/p>\n

Her military awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters, the Maryland Distinguished Service Cross, and the Maryland Meritorious Service Medal, among others.<\/p>\n

As a civilian, Singh is the managing director in the public safety portfolio for a large consulting firm based in Arlington, Va. She holds master\u2019s degrees in Strategic Studies and Business Administration, a bachelor\u2019s degree in Business Administration, and a Master Certificate in Six Sigma.<\/p>\n

During the ceremony, Singh addressed the many Soldiers that are now under her command with words of encouragement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nation today needs men and women that think in terms of service to their country and not in terms of their country\u2019s debt to them,\u201d
\nSingh said.<\/p>\n

She stressed the importance of each Soldier that makes up the Maryland Army National Guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be remiss if I didn\u2019t thank you,\u201d said Singh, \u201cthe Soldiers that continue to give me the inspiration and the drive to do more and be better than I am today.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]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[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a ceremony with more than 250 Soldiers attending, Brig. Gen. Linda L. Singh assumed command of the Maryland Army National Guard from Brig. Gen. Peter C. Hinz, at the Fifth Regiment Armory, Nov. 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":2002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[726,725,181,145],"class_list":["post-1996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maryland-line","category-news","tag-african-american-commander","tag-brig-gen-linda-l-singh","tag-fifth-regiment-armory","tag-maryland-army-national-guard"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1996"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2006,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996\/revisions\/2006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}