The Army’s home for intelligence and cyber operations welcomed its first female garrison commander in a change-of-command ceremony last week Col. Yolanda Gore, a native of the South Carolina Lowcountry, became the 89th garrison commander of Fort Meade, Maryland, when she took command from Col. Michael Sapp on Aug. 6, reported the Army Times. Gore recently served as the former strategic initiative chief for the Army’s deputy chief of staff over personnel at the Pentagon “I’m excited about the prospect of meeting new people and taking on the challenges this role will bring It’s an exciting feeling to envision what lies ahead,” Gore said in an Army release In an interview with Army Public Affairs in early July Gore noted her experience working closely with the office of the Secretary of the Army and was deeply involved in Medals of Honor ceremonies “Dealing with personnel matters has been central to my career so far,” she said I’ll be immersed in the operational aspects of running an installation.” Gore is a Hampton County native and a 1997 graduate of Estill High School She is the sister of Hampton County Coroner Anna Fields and Tiffany Owens and the daughter of Jeanette Fields and the late William Owens She is also the proud aunt of three nephews Fort Meade is the Army’s second-largest installation by population Architect of the Capitol and the Environmental Protection Agency Located approximately 30 miles north of the Pentagon Fort Meade is a 107-year-old Army installation named for Union Gen who served as commander of the Army of the Potomac the fort opened in 1917 and served as an Army training camp It later served as both a recruit training post and a prisoner of war camp during World War II the installation housed a series of radar and air defense systems during the Cold War with the Soviet Union housing much of the nation’s intelligence assets About Todd South government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation