After Command, Brig. Gen. Sherb Sentell was selected to lead and mobilize another unit as commander of the 519th TC DET from Camp Pendleton, CA. It was not a position he wanted, since he had a second child on the way in Minden. However, when someone who outranks you says, “There’s no way they’ll deploy you with a child on the way…don’t worry.” You go.
“The next thing I know, I’ve been mobilized…sent to Camp Pendleton as commander.” From there he was sent to Ft. Lewis, WA for more training, and he was then deployed to Iraq. The base where he was stationed was captured by U.S. forces in early April 2003, renaming it Camp Anaconda and later Joint Base Balad. The area was nicknamed “Mortaritaville” (in a play on Margaritaville), because of a high frequency of incoming mortars, at times every day, from Iraqi insurgents. “They pounded us every day,” Sentell said. He ended up being promoted to the Anaconda MCT HUB Commander, commanding the Balad base of seven transportation units and 159 civilians. He was in Iraq for a year, earning his second Bronze Star.
Sentell’s son, Chase, was born that year, in April of 2005. When he managed to borrow an office with a phone on the day of his birth, he called, and was connected with Dr. Robert Kemmerly, his wife’s OB-GYN, in the delivery suite. “I asked him if it was a boy or girl (he had a daughter, Samantha) and Dr. Kemmerly jokingly said ‘I don’t know.’” I told him the base was taking mortar rounds and I was borrowing a Colonel’s fortified office and he was anxious to get back inside. “You’ve got to know by now,” Sentell kept pushing.
“Well,” Dr. Kemmerly finally laughed and said, “I don’t know if he’ll be a quarterback or a running back.” Sentell was a happy man, and he got to hold his son two weeks later. Today, his son, Chase, is 18-years-old, and is setting records in football at Glenbrook School as a running back and wide receiver. Daughter Samantha was in the Golden Girls dance line at LSU before graduating. She is now a first-grade teacher in the Frisco, TX Independent School District (ISD).
Upon Sentell’s return stateside, he served as executive officer for the 2nd Battalion, 379th Regiment, 95th Division in Arkadelphia, AR. At the rank of Major, he was then selected as the brigade operations officer for the 7th Brigade, 95th Division in Little Rock, AR. He later assumed command of the 2203rd Mobilization Support Battalion in Bossier City, LA (Swan Lake Road), which was his second battalion command.
With the overseas deployments behind him, Sentell set his sights on the United States Army War College located at Carlisle Barracks, PA. In 2012, he became one of only four Army Reservists selected to enroll. He finished in 2013, with a Master’s Degree in Military Science. He was a Lieutenant Colonel when he entered the college, then was promoted to Colonel in 2013 while on active duty at the War College.
Because of the War College, Sentell got accepted to the United States Central Command where Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, was the 4 star General in command. US CENTCOM as it is known has responsibility of all United States troops deployed in the Middle-East, Central Asia and some parts of South Asia. “While there, I became a Transportation and Logistics Specialist,” Sentell said. “I got sent to Qatar, where I represented the two-star general in charge of US CENTCOM logistics.”
“Yeah, I went to Qatar, and my luggage mistakenly went to Pakistan,” Sentell laughed. “Talk about bad logistics…I did that (transportation and logistics) for three years. I loved it…working on the ‘tip of the spear’ to support the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines going into combat.”
Before assuming Command of the 97th Training Brigade (CGSOC), the then Col. Sentell became the Command Inspector General for the 75th Training Command in Houston, TX. “Inspector General School was awesome,” he said of the three to four-week school (he was an honor grad). “I loved being the Command Inspector General! We got to help so many soldiers.” Sentell especially loved being Commander of the 97th Training Brigade following his tour as the Command Inspector General of the 75th. Sentell was the Commander of a large unit headquartered at Fort Sheraton, IL on the Great Lakes. The schools are my Soldiers taught at are located all over the United States. Sentell was promoted to General following his brigade command of the 97th Training Brigade.
Sentell was then promoted to Brigadier General on the day he assumed Command of the 95th Division (Initial Entry Training) which is headquartered at Ft. Sill, OK. Sentell was in charge of the drill sergeants who taught Basic Combat Training at multiple locations across the United States.
Sentell’s promotion to Brigadier General fell on Jan. 26, 2019, the same year he got his pilot’s license. “I love flying – I have always wanted to be a pilot,” he beams. “And I like to hunt – I got three deer this year.” But more than these things, he loves “being involved in my kids’ activities.”
Being a pilot proved essential when flying to his many subordinate units, especially while he commanded the 95th Division at Fort Sill. During this time, Sentell’s civilian job was serving as the Minden City Judge and partner at the Sentell Law Firm LLC. Formerly, he was a prosecutor for the 26th Judicial District of Louisiana. He worked for District Attorney Schuyler Marvin for 13 years, while also partnering with his attorney father, Sherburne Sentell, Jr.
After his Division Command of the 95th Division, Sentell was selected to be the Deputy Commanding General of the 377th Theater Sustainment Command, whose headquarters are in New Orleans. He was second in command of over 35,000 soldiers, with six one-star subordinate commands under him. “That unit has over a third of the Military Sustainment Logistics Support for the Army and military,” Brig. Gen. Sentell said. “They are involved with anyone deployed anywhere! It’s like juggling 50 balls at once! I made friends and connections there that will last a lifetime.”
Brig. Gen. Sentell was elected judge for the City of Minden (Ward 1) in the fall of 2014, and he took office on Jan. 1, 2015. Several elections later, the challenges remain the same – RESOURCES, especially those dealing with juveniles. On top of that, the State of Louisiana changed the law and made 17-year-olds subject to juvenile court jurisdiction. “They are the most violent and the hardest to deal with,” he said. “It’s hard to change the behavior of a 17-year-old with only two bed spaces for the entire parish.” “When we have the ability to put a juvenile in detention for a short day or two over the weekends, it can change behavior at a critical time, but when those two bed spaces stay filled with only our most violent juvenile offenders, we lose the ability to change behavior before it is too late,” said Sentell
Webster Parish has two “beds” that it holds for juveniles. “We need eight,” Judge Sentell said. “I just hope the new Governor and legislature will do something to help us change and rehabilitate juveniles.”
He’s not giving up and he will run for office again. The people he works with have a lot to do with that. “Bless the people I work with and the support we get from the City of Minden and the Webster Parish Police Jury,” he said. “We’re making progress, so yes, I truly enjoy my job and helping people.” Those same people don’t realize that over 7,000 cases come through Minden City Court each year. Small matters can be handled by the court, not just felonies.”
This military man and judge is also a family man. He spends as much time with Chase and Samantha as he can, as well as his wife, Kim Sentell, who is the marketing director and liaison for the Webster Parish Library System (seven libraries). He and Kim are members of First Methodist Church of Minden, but they sometimes attend Sunday School at First Baptist. Sentell is vice chairman of the Board of Directors for Citizens National Bank, which holds over $1.5 billion dollars in assets. He is a member of the Minden Lions Club and Wiley-Pevy Post of the American Legion.
“I especially want to thank my wife, Kim Sentell, and my children Samantha and Chase for the support they have given me over the years. My Mom and Dad (and law partner) have also been instrumental in supporting my military career. I could not have done it without them. Lastly, I want to thank the many Soldiers: subordinates, peers, and superiors, who helped me be successful all along my military career.”
