She was the first female commandant of the United States Army Drill Sergeant School at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

[3] From 2002 to 2005, she served as command sergeant major of 3rd Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment tasked with Basic Combat Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

In 2007, she was assigned as the command sergeant major of 369th Adjutant General Battalion in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for another two years.

[10] Her retirement came with a $10 million administrative claim of mistreatment feeling she was defamed due to bias against her as a woman, an African-American, and lack of service in a combat theater, and pushed out of the role of commandant.

[11] King was inducted into the Drill Sergeant Hall of Fame in 2017[12] as well as the National Women in Military Service to America Memorial at Arlington, Virginia.

[13] In 2019, King successfully sued the operators of a website for defaming her by alleging that personal misconduct had led to her suspension, and the publisher was ordered to pay her $150,000 in damages.