Yoneka Moore Trent (b. 1965), of New Bern, North Carolina, served in the military police and as an honor guard in the United States Army from 1983-1991. Yoneka Moore Trent was born 28 September 1965 in New Bern, North Carolina. After graduating from high school, Moore enlisted in the United States Army as a reservist, and began attending monthly drills before leaving for basic training at Fort McClellan. After basic, she immediately began Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 95 Bravo (95 B), Military Police (MP), also at Fort McClellan. Trent was then assigned to Fort McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia, where she stood guard at the gate, and was a member of the Honor Guard. After a short time, Trent began to desire an assignment where she felt she could make a difference and was eventually reassigned to Physical Security, where she was put in charge of securing access to a top-secret area for generals. In 1986, Trent received orders to Kelley Barracks at U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart, Germany. She was, again, a member of the Honor Guard and assisted with gate security. After her unit was assigned a new platoon sergeant, he quickly reclassified the platoon as a route reconnaissance platoon, and they began gathering intelligence about the operational environment of routes for military use. One week out of every month, Trent and her unit would go out to the field, where she was assigned to the M-60 machine gun. In 1988, Trent received orders to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. In 1989, she married her husband. In 1990, Trent received orders to Kaiserslautern, Germany. While there, she became pregnant with her first child. Due to Trent's workload and subsequent complications with the pregnancy, she was advised to separate from the army for the sake of the baby's health. Trent left the army 8 January 1991, one month before the birth of her daughter. Trent and her family eventually settled in Clayton, North Carolina, where she is a member of American Legion Post 540, which is the first and only all-female American Legion post in North Carolina.
