Meet Your Army - Cordele, GA

Photo By Sgt. Lynnwood Thomas | The 40th Public Affairs Detachment would like to introduce Warrant Officer Taterrian R. Thompkins for this week’s #MeetYourArmy. Thompkins is a human resources technician (420A) with 52nd Ordnance Group Explosive Ordinance Disposal from Cordele, Georgia. Although she loved her small hometown, once she finished high school she left for Atlanta, Georgia, to attend Morris Brown College, she said. There, she studied business administration until her junior year. It was then that she began to think she wanted to leave college, she said. Thompkins said that she was already feeling like she wanted to take a different route, so with some encouragement from her father and a college friend, she joined the Army as a private first class under the battle buddy system. “We’re still best friends to this day,” Thompkins said. “She did four years, and I’m still in. I love it, and I wouldn’t change the decision I made for the world.” About 4 years later, while stationed in Heidelberg, Germany as a staff sergeant, Thompkins received orders to join the White House communication team, she said. At the time she was promotable, and once she made the promotion list, her orders were deleted and changed. From there, she was hand selected for Drill Sergeant School in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, an honor reserved for only the most qualified non-commissioned officers. “I actually loved being a drill sergeant,” Thompkins said “I’m very passionate about teaching, coaching, mentoring and training soldiers, and even as a warrant officer I still do that because that’s what built my foundation. I don’t only do it for the military. I do it for my personal experience outside of the military.” Thompkins and her husband are both ministers at the church they attend and love to encourage and help soldiers in any way they can, she said. Her steps are ordered by the lord at all times. “I look at it as my purpose in life,” Thompkins said. Thompkins appreciates the comradery and teamwork that she receives from working alongside soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). In her personal life, she likes to travel, support her two daughters’ extracurricular activities and enjoy having family time, she said. Her demeanor at home is not unlike her work-self, which makes life viable. “It’s hard to be two people at work and at home,” she said. “When you’re just your normal self, it’s easier to operate in life.”  

FORT CAMPBELL, KY, UNITED STATES

07.26.2018

Story by Pfc. Lynnwood Thomas 

40th Public Affairs Detachment

The 40th Public Affairs Detachment would like to introduce Warrant Officer Taterrian R. Thompkins for this week’s #MeetYourArmy. Thompkins is a human resources technician (420A) with 52nd Ordnance Group Explosive Ordinance Disposal from Cordele, Georgia. Although she loved her small hometown, once she finished high school she left for Atlanta, Georgia, to attend Morris Brown College, she said.

There, she studied business administration until her junior year. It was then that she began to think she wanted to leave college, she said.

Thompkins said that she was already feeling like she wanted to take a different route, so with some encouragement from her father and a college friend, she joined the Army as a private first class under the battle buddy system.

“We’re still best friends to this day,” Thompkins said. “She did four years, and I’m still in. I love it, and I wouldn’t change the decision I made for the world.”

About 4 years later, while stationed in Heidelberg, Germany as a staff sergeant, Thompkins received orders to join the White House communication team, she said. At the time she was promotable, and once she made the promotion list, her orders were deleted and changed.

From there, she was hand selected for Drill Sergeant School in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, an honor reserved for only the most qualified non-commissioned officers.

“I actually loved being a drill sergeant,” Thompkins said “I’m very passionate about teaching, coaching, mentoring and training soldiers, and even as a warrant officer I still do that because that’s what built my foundation. I don’t only do it for the military. I do it for my personal experience outside of the military.”

Thompkins and her husband are both ministers at the church they attend and love to encourage and help soldiers in any way they can, she said. Her steps are ordered by the lord at all times.

“I look at it as my purpose in life,” Thompkins said.

Thompkins appreciates the comradery and teamwork that she receives from working alongside soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

In her personal life, she likes to travel, support her two daughters’ extracurricular activities and enjoy having family time, she said. Her demeanor at home is not unlike her work-self, which makes life viable.

“It’s hard to be two people at work and at home,” she said. “When you’re just your normal self, it’s easier to operate in life.”

• Date Taken: 07.26.2018
• Date Posted: 12.13.2018 14:28
• Story ID: 303082
• Location: FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US
• Hometown: CORDELE, GA, US