JOINT BASE SAN ANTON IO - FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas – Sgt. Maj. Joshua Tolbert was born to be a Soldier for Life. “When I was a kid, all I ever wanted to do was to be in the Army,” said Tolbert, who will retire in November as the U.S. Army Installation Management Command Provost Sergeant Major. “I had relatives who served in various branches, but I always wanted to be a Soldier.” Tolbert’s journey to becoming a Soldier started at Thunderbird Youth Academy, a military school in Pryor Creek, Oklahoma. While he was there, he also started taking college classes at Northeastern Oklahoma. He enlisted in the Army in November, 1999..."When. I. first.
joined, I intended to make a career of it from the day I started, and I stuck it out,” Tolbert said. “I knew what I was getting into. I didn’t have illusions. That’s extremely rare. In fact, one of the things I did not struggle with but was different was I was so locked in tight when I came in that I had to calm down a little bit when. I. got. to. my. first.
duty station.” While Tolbert knew that he would eventually join the Military Police Corps when he enlisted, he didn’t know exactly what being an MP entailed. “I had an instructor who was an MP, and that’s kind of why I went in the direction of going into the MP Corps,” Tolbert said. “I’m glad that I did. I have enjoyed the MP corps. It is one of the few branches that has just as much of a peacetime mission as a wartime mission.” The Army gave Tolbert plenty of opportunities during his career, but perhaps the biggest opportunity for him was the chance to live overseas. “I not only saw the world, but experienced the world,” Tolbert said. “You can vacation anyplace and get a taste of it, but there are layers of complexity that you don’t get in a short period of time.” Tolbert was stationed in Germany for four years, Korea for four years, Japan for three years, Italy for one year, and a oneyear deployment to Iraq.
