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Today’s Black History Month feature is Alexandria, La. native Col. Katrina Lloyd. Lloyd made history when she became the second Black woman to be promoted to the rank of colonel by the Louisiana National Guard. Of officers who commissioned in 1996, only 2% have made it to the rank of colonel.
Lloyd currently serves as the LANG’s State Surgeon–Army and Commander of the 61st Troop Command. She is the first African American and woman to hold either position.
After serving as an enlisted guardsman for 10 years, and achieving the rank of sergeant, Lloyd commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1996. Throughout her career, she has held several key leadership positions including Chief Clinical Nurse and Deputy Commander of Clinical and Administrative services.
However, this is not the first time Lloyd has made history. Before assuming her current positions, she held the positions of Battalion Commander of the Louisiana Medical Detachment, the full-time Deputy State Surgeon–Army and the Louisiana Medical Detachment Administrative Officer. She is the first African American and woman to hold any of these positions, and the first soldier appointed to simultaneously hold all three.
Lloyd graduated from Grambling State University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She received her Master of Science in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2001 from Northwestern State University and earned a second Masters of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College in July of 2019. Lloyd received national recognition from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners as the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners recipient of the 2019 NP of Excellence Award. She has intermittently served as a Clinical Preceptor for NSULA since 2007 and Adjunct Faculty for the Nurse Practitioner program since 2012. In her spare time, she works at an urgent care facility and serves her community through board and social affiliations.
A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, her awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Superior Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device and Silver Hourglass, Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon.
