State's Senior Military Officer Had Tough Start In Frederick

SYLVIA CARIGNAN
The Frederick News-Post

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- Linda Singh was working fast-food jobs and just trying to make ends meet when she saw a recruiting stand for the Maryland National Guard at Francis Scott Key Mall.

Singh was 17 in 1981. She had left her parents' home two years earlier after abuse and arguments forced her out.

"I was hanging out a lot in the streets, hanging out with my friends," she said. "They could go home in the evening. They had great homes. I didn't."

She rented a room from an elderly couple in Frederick, but when her wages couldn't pay for that, she slept at friends' houses.

Singh said Frederick was "a huge city" to her, back when she had to learn how to live on her own. She knew she could have been placed in a foster home, but she said that was worse than being homeless.

Though she got good grades and played basketball for Linganore High School, she struggled. She dropped out of Linganore, then transferred to Gov. Thomas Johnson High School.

"It was horrible," she said. "I just didn't fit in. It was more me than anything because I didn't have it together."

She left high school for good in March 1981. She was working at a pretzel stand at FSK Mall that summer when she saw a recruiter for the Maryland National Guard.

"I felt like it was a chance for me to get away," she said.

Over three decades and several promotions later, Maj. Gen. Singh is the first woman and first African-American to hold the position of adjutant general in Maryland.

Singh was an enlisted soldier for 11 years, was deployed to Kosovo and Afghanistan, worked for the contractor Accenture and led the Maryland Army National Guard. She has earned the Bronze Star, as well as medals including the Army Commendation Medal and Meritorious Service Medal.

Now from Baltimore, she oversees the daily operations of the Maryland Military Department, which includes all the branches of the state's National Guard as well as the Maryland Emergency Management Agency and Maryland Defense Force.

The department has more than 7,000 National Guard members, Defense Force volunteers and civilian employees, according to the Maryland National Guard.

Singh said joining the Guard changed her life.

"It made me so proud of myself," she said. "I felt like I was really, truly somebody."

Singh became a member of Gov. Larry Hogan's cabinet in late January.

"It's a little bit like drinking from the fire hose in one sense because there's so many different variations and changes," she said of her new position. "I'm really getting a chance to think more strategically."

She is also pursuing a doctorate through Capella University in industrial and organizational psychology.

"I enjoy helping people and organizations change, which is one of the reasons why I'm interested in this (adjutant general) role," she said.

Diversity and transparency are a large part of her vision for the Maryland Military Department.

"It's not just diversity of people," she said. "It's diversity of thought and diversity of capability."

Different perspectives are also important to her as a mentor and a mentee, she said.

Master Sgt. Fanny Marini deployed to Afghanistan under Singh's command in 2011.

"I didn't know what to expect from her because she really was quite intimidating," said Marini, who works in Baltimore with Singh.

They built a rapport, with Singh encouraging her to push herself. Marini wanted to be the first woman on her team to be approved to drive around the Green Zone in Afghanistan, and under Singh's leadership, she was.

"She's real big on critical thinking, and that's one of the things I'd never been challenged with," Marini said.

Singh's evaluation of Marini enabled her to get a promotion at the Maryland National Guard, where Marini now plans drill schedules and training for her unit.

"Without being on her team, being under her leadership, there wasn't any way I was going to get promoted," Marini said.

One of Singh's mentors during her time at Linganore High School was her basketball coach, Bob Dawson. Singh said he used to drive her to her parents' house from basketball practice when she couldn't get a ride.

He coached at schools in Frederick County for 40 years and is now retired.

Dawson knew Singh as a hard worker with an "outstanding personality."

"She was loved by all the members of the girls basketball team," he said.

After she left Linganore High School, he wondered where her life would take her. He found out this week about her new position.

"I'm just happy that she's gone on and made something out of herself, which I think every coach has the desire to see," he said.

Singh said she is thankful for the people who helped her through her toughest times.

"I never forgot it," she said.

Singh and her husband live in Prince George's County. They have two daughters.

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)