Jaime Marlock is on the rise in both her careers.
Last week the Lake St. Louis, Missouri, resident was promoted to technical architect in her information security job for the financial services firm Edward Jones.
And then, on August 6, she was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard.
Marlock, the G6 (information technology and cyber) Branch Chief, received her military promotion in a short ceremony at the Illinois National Guard's headquarters on Camp Lincoln in Springfield. Col. Lenny Williams, the Illinois Army National Guard's Chief of Staff, presided over the ceremony.
Williams said that Marlock is one of the rising stars in the Illinois Army National Guard and he fully expects her to be promoted to colonel in a few years.
Marlock, who grew up in Moline, Illinois, enlisted in the Illinois Army National Guard as a Signal Corps Soldier 20 years ago. She rose to sergeant but found herself dissatisfied. She felt that the training for Signal Soldiers at that time could be more engaging and challenging.
"I could either get out or put myself in a position where I could improve things," she told her Soldiers. She opted for the latter, enrolling in the Illinois Army National Guard's 129th Regional Training Institute's Officer Candidate School. In 2008 she was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant.
She is now among the key leaders of the Illinois National Guard's cyber force and is involved in cyber planning, training and operations for the National Guard's state and federal missions.