Lt. Col. Yolonda R. Summons

U.S. Army | Class of 2012

Yolonda R. Summons has had an extensive career in the U.S. Army that includes combat service in the Middle East and leadership positions at the Pentagon and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She has received numerous military awards and decorations, including the Bronze Star Medal, and currently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Yolonda Summons hails from Little Rock, Arkansas. She graduated from Little Rock McClellan High School and earned a full basketball scholarship to Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. She majored in biology and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Summons was commissioned as a U.S. Army officer in May 1992. She entered active duty in the U.S. Army in October 1993.

Summons’s extensive military education encompasses the Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Aeromedical Evacuation Officer Course, the UH-60 (Blackhawk) Aviator Qualification Course, Initial Entry Rotary Wing (Helicopter) Course, the Army Medical Department Officer Advance Course, the Combat Casualty Course, the U.S. Airlift Planners Course, and the Army Medical Department Officer Basic Course. Her career with the U.S. Army includes multiple deployments to Iraqi and Kuwait; Brigade S1 (Director, Human Resources); Resident at the Command and General Staff College; Brigade G3 Air (Director, Aviation Operations); Battalion S1 (Director, Human Resources); Commander for a Headquarters and Headquarters’ Company for a Medical Brigade; Executive and Flight Operations Officer for a Medical Air Ambulance Company; Aide-deCamp to the Deputy Commanding General at the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School; Executive Officer for a Medical Veterinary Detachment; and a Platoon Leader for a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

Summons later worked as the Army Medical Department Deputy Chief of Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. In the summer of 2013, she was made Troop Commander (Director of Hospital Operational Training and Development) for the U.S. Army Element, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

She received a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership from Chapman University and has pursued a Doctorate of Ministry at Howard University School of Divinity.

Summons has received numerous military awards and decorations, including the Bronze Star Medal for her combat service, five Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals, two National Defense Service Ribbons, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Global War of Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon. She proudly wears the Aviator Badge and the Expert Field Medical Badge, as well as the Order of Military Medical Merit and Order of Saint Michael’s medallions.