{"id":17404,"date":"2023-06-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=17404"},"modified":"2023-07-03T06:41:48","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T06:41:48","slug":"former-medical-service-corps-chiefs-life-of-service-brings-joy-passion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=17404","title":{"rendered":"Former Medical Service Corps Chief\u2019s life of service brings joy, passion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Brig. Gen. Sheila Baxter poses for a photo. Baxter served for 30 years in the Army’s Medical Service Corps before transitioning to a civilian role as a staff chaplain with Veterans Affairs.
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WASHINGTON \u2014 Following her retirement from three decades of Army service, Sheila Baxter provided veterans with spiritual counseling as a\u00a0staff chaplain at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center.<\/p>\n

This job was important to her, she said, because it was another way she could give back and make an impact on people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

One day, she received a call from a psychologist telling her there was a patient that could use her help. He was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n

The Marine veteran struggled with the guilt of losing three men during a firefight overseas years ago. The anguish was taking a toll on him and his family. It even got to a point where he couldn\u2019t keep a job.<\/p>\n

Baxter called him to set up a meeting, and the two quickly bonded over their shared military experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was grateful to God that we were able to connect,\u201d Baxter said. \u201cMarines are tough. Sometimes they don\u2019t open up like that, especially to a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

They started meeting twice a month as they charted a path to improve his spiritual life. He slowly started making progress.<\/p>\n

During their talks, Baxter learned he was holding so much pain inside because he never mourned the men he lost. He had pushed everything down and tried to forget. She knew he needed closure and asked if he wanted to hold a special ceremony in their honor.<\/p>\n

He agreed.<\/p>\n

During the memorial, he cried and called out their names.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, I saw a change in him,\u201d Baxter said. \u201cIt was a release. He was finally able to honor them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeing him find peace gave her joy. That was because service was her passion and she had been doing it all her life.<\/p>\n

Coming from the small town of Franklin, Virginia, just southwest of Norfolk, she always had a sense of community. She grew up with her four siblings and several cousins who lived in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Her father, an Army veteran who fought in the Korean War, was always helping people. He was a local contractor and owned an oil truck business with his brothers. He would help people with their rent or anything else they needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would give the clothes off his back to help you,\u201d she said. \u201cMy parents always taught us the value of God, family and public service.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also learned teamwork and discipline early on by playing basketball with her siblings and cousins in her aunt\u2019s backyard. She would take the skills she learned there all the way to Virginia State University where she became the first female basketball player to score 1,000 career points.<\/p>\n

During her junior year, she would go with her cousin to visit her husband, an Army logistics officer stationed at Fort Bragg, now called Fort Liberty. He would take them around the base to show them different aspects of the Army.<\/p>\n

While they were visiting, a feeling came over her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my light bulb moment,\u201d she explained. \u201cThis is what I want to do, I want to lead troops.\u201d<\/p>\n

She saw the Army as a team sport like basketball with everyone working together toward a common goal. A week later, she went to the Reserve Officers\u2019 Training Corps at her school and signed up.<\/p>\n

She commissioned in 1978 as a Medical Service Corps officer after earning her bachelor\u2019s degree in health and physical education. She chose the service corps because of the variety of jobs it presented and the chance it gave her to help people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a people person,\u201d she explained. \u201cIf you love people, your life is never boring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout her career, mentors played a critical role in setting her up for success.<\/p>\n

As a young medical logistics officer at her first assignment, her battalion commander asked her to give him a 20-year plan for her career.<\/p>\n

She looked at him and said \u201cSir, I don\u2019t know what I want to do in 20 minutes, and you want me to map out my career?\u201d<\/p>\n

That was exactly what he wanted her to do. She had to show him in five-year increments where she wanted to be and what goals she had. She went home that weekend and thought about it.<\/p>\n

The next week, she told him she wanted to lead troops and be like him.<\/p>\n

He helped her map it out and told her what she had to focus on to get there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a turning point early on in my career,\u201d she said. \u201cHe really was a great mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n

She took his advice and steadily progressed in her career as she was promoted to major a year earlier than her peers.<\/p>\n

Things didn\u2019t always go to plan, however. While she was the logistics lead for a medical group, she dealt with a verbally abusive boss that would often curse at his staff. This behavior didn\u2019t sit well with her.<\/p>\n

After leaving a meeting one day, she thought she had enough and was ready to quit the Army. At that moment, she heard a voice within her say, \u201cNo you\u2019re not, you\u2019re going to hang in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

She prayed for her boss. With the help of her pastor, she was able to take her focus off him and put it on God. She changed her perspective and instead leaned on the positive things in her life like her staff.<\/p>\n

“I learned everything isn’t going to be peaches and cream, but you’ve got to hang in there because it’s making you who you should be,\u201d she explained. \u201cSometimes we have to have a little resistance in order to understand you can overcome the situation. You just have to change your perspective.”<\/p>\n

She carried the lessons she learned throughout her career and tried to pass them on to those around her, just as the officers and noncommissioned officers had done in her life.<\/p>\n

As she continued down her career path, she became the commander of the 226th Medical Battalion in Germany. Even after reaching this milestone, she knew she needed to continue to rely on those around her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t listen to your mentors, you are doing yourself a disservice because mentors can see in you what you cannot see in yourself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Listening to the advice of one mentor, Brig Gen. Richard Ursone, she invited the lieutenant general in her chain of command for a visit to the battalion. Three weeks later, he stopped by.<\/p>\n

During the visit, Baxter let her NCOs and civilians lead the briefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about highlighting the people that work with you and giving them a voice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The general was impressed.<\/p>\n

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\n Newly promoted Brig. Gen. Sheila Baxter, stands next to her father John Baxter Sr., of Franklin, Virginia, during her promotion ceremony June 21, 2003 at the Women in Military Service to America Memorial in Arlington. Baxter was the first female general officer in the Medical Service Corps.
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A year later, she received a call from the Army surgeon general saying she was selected to brigadier general.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe must\u2019ve thought I dropped the phone because I couldn\u2019t speak, I was so blown away,\u201d she recalled. \u201cIt was such a surprise, but I was humbled and grateful for the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

She became the first female chief of the Medical Service Corps, leading more than 9,000 officers across the Army Medical Department. Her vision for the corps was competence, courage and compassion. She wanted them to be the best they could be and to help others along the way, just as she was helped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am extremely proud to be a Medical Service Corps officer,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I look back at our history, we just keep going to higher levels because of the quality of Soldiers and leaders that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout her time as chief, she traveled around the Army listening to the troops and hoping to inspire them.<\/p>\n

As she went through a dining facility on one of her visits, a young private first class ran up to her and told her she was going back to school so she could be like her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe promotion to brigadier general wasn\u2019t about me, it was for other people to see that if God could do it for me, he could do it for them,\u201d she said. \u201cI told her \u2018thank you, please do that because you can make it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

After 30 years of service, she retired from the Army but not from helping others. She couldn\u2019t just sit and relax following her years\u00a0of being around Soldiers. She wanted to continue with her passion of service. So, she applied for the Clinical Pastoral Education Program through the Veterans Affairs in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

This program eventually led her to a full-time chaplain position where she helped veterans with their spiritual care for another 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think about why I continue to give back, I believe it\u2019s in my DNA,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that makes me proud in terms of giving my life meaning and purpose. Service gives me joy; gives me passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baxter retired from the VA in 2021 to pursue her doctorate in ministry, which she will complete next year. She continues to give back and goes out every Sunday to help homeless women and men.<\/p>\n

RELATED LINKS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Medical Service Corps: 106 years of diverse health service<\/a><\/p>\n

Army News Service<\/a><\/p>\n

ARNEWS archives<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brig. Gen. Sheila Baxter poses for a photo. Baxter served for 30 years in the Army’s Medical Service Corps before transitioning to a civilian role as a staff chaplain with Veterans Affairs. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo) VIEW ORIGINAL WASHINGTON \u2014 Following her retirement from three decades of Army service, Sheila Baxter provided veterans with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17406,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17404"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17409,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17404\/revisions\/17409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}