FORT KNOX, KY –
“It’s about taking care of Soldiers,” said Clemente, an Indio, California, native. “The day I come in and I’m not about taking care of Soldiers, is the day I need to leave.”
This philosophy is not new. It’s a common belief among many, if not all, of the great leaders in the U.S. Army. It’s a belief that the smallest act of kindness can create waves of change for the betterment of the Army, the Department of Defense and the Nation. And anyone in a leadership role, whether they are a commanding general or a new corporal, can practice it. However, some may never realize the impact they are making on their organization or to the people who look up to them.
Col. Clemente is making waves.
Clemente, a U.S. Military Academy graduate, has held critical positions in the U.S. Army that have helped shape, not only the commands she has worked for, but Soldiers’ careers across the Army and the entire force.
In 2015, she worked as part of a three-woman team on establishing the Women in the Army Policy to fully integrate women into all U.S. Army military occupational specialties and career fields. She then helped transition the 1st Theater Sustainment Command from Fort Liberty, North Carolina, to Fort Knox, Kentucky, in 2016-2017. Clemente worked for Headquarters Department of the Army as the Chief of Army Selection Boards, and then became a part of U.S. Army Human Resources Command leading their Task Force on the Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army, nicknamed IPPS-A,.
Today, she continues to make her mark on the Army by working to shape the force in Eastern Europe. Yet, if you asked her, she would just say that she is just doing her job.
Clemente currently serves as the director of human resources (HR) for the U.S. Army’s newest corps, V Corps. She plays a critical role in building a permanent U.S. presence in Poland, which directly contributes to the command’s mission of bolstering relationships with U.S. allies and reinforcing NATO’s eastern flank.
As director of HR, Clemente leads a team of 24 Soldiers and Civilians in providing personnel support to all V Corps military personnel, Department of the Army Civilians and Family members. Her department provides support not only for V Corps Headquarters, which has over 600 Soldiers and Department of the Army Civilians split between Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Poznan, Poland, but also for the Corps’ three assigned brigades in Germany – 2nd Cavalry Regiment, 41st Field Artillery Brigade and 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. Additionally, they provide crucial oversight of the quality-of-life support for the rotational units that fall under the V Corps area of responsibility in Europe, which consists of approximately 30 forward operating sites, areas that are typically away from the standard infrastructure that military posts often provide like post offices, commissaries and gyms.
“Our focus for those locations is morale, welfare and recreation to include postal support, Red Cross, USO, Army and Air Force Exchange Service and Armed Forces Entertainment,” said Clemente. “It’s all about providing the best quality of life, to improve the conditions as much as possible because literally some of these sites are just a field, concertina wire and tents.”
While these are standard expectations for HR directors at a corps level, Clemente and her predecessor have had the challenging role of building a brand-new corps from the ground up.
“The biggest challenge with establishing a new unit, V Corps especially, is building efficient and effective processes and systems and ensuring responsibility is occurring at the right place,” said Clemente. “The key to overcoming these challenges, while continuing to strive to provide world-class support to V Corps personnel, has been to prioritize and spread the responsibilities throughout the team.”
V Corps, pronounced Fifth Corps, was reactivated in October 2020 as the Army’s fourth headquarters to provide the needed level of command and control focused on synchronizing U.S. Army, allied and partnered nation troops operating in Europe. Its establishment helped fulfill the 2018 National Defense Strategy to build a more lethal force, strengthen alliances and attract new partners, and reform the department for greater performance. In 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced the permanent presence of U.S. forces in Poland, paving the way for U.S. Army Garrison – Poland to be established at Camp Kosciuszko, the home of V Corps Forward Headquarters.
“When I came to V Corps, all personnel were assigned to Fort Knox,” said Clemente, who arrived at V Corps in the summer of 2022 while the unit was forward deployed to Germany. “Within my first 60 days, I worked with the staff to identify 90 positions to have documented with a location of Poland rather than Kentucky. The focus was to support our President’s statement regarding V Corps having a permanent presence in Poland.”
When the corps first stood up, Soldiers from Fort Knox would rotate to Poland on a nine-month basis to work in the forward headquarters, which put strain on the command, service members and their Families. They knew they needed to remedy this strain by offering permanent assignments to Poland. But to build a permanent presence at Camp Kosciuszko, Clemente’s team had to work with U.S. Army Europe and Africa to establish permanent tour lengths and U.S. Army Human Resources Command to align personnel to these new assignments. In April 2023, the team was able to establish permanent one-year unaccompanied tours to Poznan, paving the way for the larger force posture requested by the Polish government and provided by President Biden.
“We currently have 67 personnel assigned to V Corps in Poznan,” said Clemente. “And that number will continue to rise over the next few years.”
Clemente says the goal is to get longer accompanied billets, for at least people with adult-age dependents, for Poland in the near future, which will open up more opportunities abroad for Soldiers and help recruit talent into V Corps.
Her goal, in V Corps and as a leader in general, is to help people. She said it’s not her job to save the world, but if she can help at least one person a day she did what she set out to do.
While she’s out here making waves she might not realize she’s making, she understands that being a woman in the military sets her apart.
“Simply, women are a minority,” said Clemente. “It’s one of those things where you realize sometimes you stick out like a sore thumb, and you have no idea you do… I have to set the example at all times so I can be the very best role model I can be for others.”
Clemente also strives to be the best wife and mother she can be, which requires balancing her military duties with family obligations. Being present for key family events and giving her family undivided attention when at home is important to her as her family’s support keeps her motivated and energized.
She attributes her success to holding herself to a high physical and mental standard, treating everyone with dignity and respect, learning from those around her and keeping her focus on maintaining professionalism and building credibility.
A correction was made on April 9, 2024: An earlier article stated V Corps was activated in February 2020. The Army announced V Corps reactivation in February 2020, but the command wasn't officially reactivated until October 2020.