TEMPLE, Texas — Being one of the few Americans that qualify to serve in the military is one thing but making the choice to serve isn’t a whole other challenge.
Meet Sergeant First Class Kimberly Eagans, U.S. Army recruiter with the Waco Recruiting Company working out of the Temple recruiting office, but that is not where her story began.
”I grew up in a small country town called Greensboro, Gorgia,” said SFC Eagans. “Right in the middle of Atlanta and Augusta and just off I-20. Small, if you blink you would miss us.”
A small town full of family values and it was her own family that inspired her to enlist in the Army.
”My dad told me, your brother joined and why don’t you try,” said SFC Eagans. “That's exactly what I did. It was all on a try and it worked out pretty good. I’ve been in for 18 years now. So, I think it I did well.”
After close to two decades of traveling the world and working as a culinary specialist in the Army, she now helps others who want to serve as she takes on her role as a recruiter.
She does so with the same family approach as she grew up with.
”She’s more like a mother figure to most of her applicants and prospects,” said SFC Cedric Tyler, Waco Recruiting Company, Temple office. “She’s there for them pretty much night or day. If they call her at midnight, she’s going to answer the phone.”
It's not just recruits she is leaving a lasting impression on.
”She is Kimberly,” said SFC Tyler. “She’s going to be a family member. She's going to take you in. She's going to bring you into her family and she’s going to take care of you. She is an outstanding individual.”
While she grows her family every day, she does have a message for the one waiting to see her come home at night.
”To my husband, to my kids, to my home front family,” said SFC Eagans. “Thanks for riding it out with me on these last few years that I have in and I'm excited to going through the transitional phase of hitting retirement.”
Seargent First Class Kimberly Eagans spent close to 2-decades serving her country with honor and dedication and now inspires the next generation of American heroes as they choose to put on the uniform and do the same.
