Tennessee National Guard
By CPT Matthew Gilbert,
SSG Krystle Parks, an intelligence analyst with the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 230th Sustainment Brigade based in Chattanooga, recently went to Romania in support of exercise Saber Guardian, a large-scale training operation led by U.S. Army Europe.
While there, SSG Parks worked with a team of service members whose job it was to collect and analyze important information from various sources that could impact the operation’s success.
“My job was to learn everything I could about our mission area – the terrain, environment, political climate, the social structure, you name it,” explained SSG Parks. “I needed to analyze everything to determine what could positively or negatively affect our mission.”
She received an Army Achievement Medal for her excellence in intelligence analysis during Exercise Anakonda in Poland in 2016, as well as the Tennessee Army National Guard Individual Achievement Ribbon for her administrative support of the Knoxville-based 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Tennessee Army National Guard.
SSG Parks isn’t just an intelligence analyst with the U.S. Army. When she is not drilling or overseas with the Tennessee Army National Guard, she doubles as an analyst for local, state and federal law enforcement in middle Tennessee.
SSG Parks credits her intense training to her ability to work in both fields.
“My work with the military and with law enforcement is very similar,” explained SSG Parks. “My military training helped me to quickly learn how to work with law enforcement. I am constantly exposed to new complications and applications in cases, so I have to keep my skills and understanding of technology up-to-date.”
“Working in law enforcement has given me a different perspective. It helps keep me focused and helps me hone my skills as a military analyst. Whether I am working with the military or civilian law enforcement, I get to do something new and something I enjoy every day,” SSG Parks says.
SSG Parks is not the first person in her family to serve in the U.S. Army. Her grand-father enlisted when he was a teenager, and his military career motivated her to follow in his footsteps.
“I spent my life looking up to him and listening to his stories about being in the Army. He joined when he was 15, back when you could sign up at the postmaster’s office,” said SSG Parks. “He talked his father into lying about his age for him on the paperwork, and he went off to be a tanker. He served as a tanker through World War II and Korea, where his service took him all through Africa and Italy. He was called back during Vietnam and worked as an MP.
“My Papa knew when he was 15 that he wanted to give his loyalty to his country and that he wanted to protect his Family and friends. He instilled in me the desire to do the same,” said SSG Parks.
And now as an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army, the Tennessee Army National Guard and the State of Tennessee, SSG Parks has continued her Family’s tradition of service.
