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Idaho’s first female command sergeant major encourages soldiers to manage their own careers
BOISE, ID, UNITED STATES
03.31.2019
Story by Crystal Farris
Idaho Army National Guard
Command Sgt. Maj. Linda Burkhart was born in Eureka, California, and as a 10-year-old, visited her aunt and uncle who were working for the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho. During the trip she fell in love with Idaho and decided to move there one day.
Burkhart finally moved to Idaho when she was 32 and looking for a new direction in life. She worked for the United States Postal Service, where she met two Idaho National Guardsmen. Having always wanted to wear the uniform, Burkhart enlisted into the Idaho Army National Guard one year later on Nov. 18, 1994, as a signal specialist.
“I wanted to be part of something bigger,” said Burkhart. “I was looking for that one thing that would put my life in a good direction and the Guard did that for me.”
Burkhart has served in the Idaho Army National Guard for the past 25 years and earned the Army’s highest enlisted rank in 2014, when she became the state’s first female command sergeant major.
From spending her first drill getting dirty in the field as a private, to leading troops as a company first sergeant, Burkhart said her career has been memorable and full of opportunity.
“I’d come home filthy and tired from the field but excited because I felt I achieved something,” said Burkhart. “I love what I do and want to show Soldiers they can have fun in their jobs and get good things from their careers if they take the initiative.”
Taking initiative to manage her own career has been key to Burkhart’s success, she said, and was something her parents raised her to do. Whether that meant completing professional developmental courses or volunteering for positions of higher authority, she was willing to do what was necessary to move up through the ranks.
“We have to push ourselves to take initiative and create opportunities,” said Burkhart. “My parents taught my siblings and me to take charge of our lives and that has always been key.”
One of her most impactful career decisions came at the end of Burkhart’s second deployment. Upon returning home from Iraq in 2010, she was a sergeant first class with no platoon sergeant time. Knowing that leadership experience was important, she requested to be considered for a platoon sergeant position within the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team.
“I wanted and needed that opportunity if I was going to move up,” said Burkhart. “I went through the appropriate chain of command and requested to be considered. I told them I could do the job and they gave me the opportunity.”
Burkhart remained in that position for more than six years before becoming Joint Force Headquarters and Headquarters Company’s first sergeant.
She now serves as the Joint Force Headquarters’ first female land component command sergeant major, responsible for advising the state land component commander on all matters impacting the unit’s enlisted force, including assessing their morale, welfare and training.
“I continually see any position that I’ve been in as the opportunity to do more for the organization and the people in it,” said Burkhart. “I can’t say enough how much this organization and its people have given to me and the opportunities I’ve had and continue to have.”
Although Burkhart plans to retire in two years, she said she still has a lot to contribute to the organization and her fellow Soldiers before hanging up her uniform.
“We have a great organization but are not exempt from having occasional challenges,” said Burkhart. “I genuinely want to know how Soldiers are doing and attempt to make things better for everyone if it’s not going so well for them. I know this organization cares about me. I am trying to show others that the organization cares about them also.”