Command Sergeant Major Tabitha Gavia, U.S. Army retired, is an experienced leader, culminating over 33 years of service as the Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, the DoD’s largest recruiting organization, responsible for recruiting more than 100,000 Soldiers annually.  She currently serves as the Director of Operations - Delivery at Merit International, Inc.   Gavia is an Association of the United States Army Leadership Fellow and a Corporate Advisory Panel member of the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States of America.

A child of a military family, Gavia entered the Army in 1988 and attended Basic Training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and Advanced Individual Training for Pershing II Missile Electronic Repairer at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. She later attended the Advanced Individual Training for Radiology Specialists at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.  Gavia has held leadership positions at every enlisted level, ranging from team leader to Command Sergeant Major.  Gavia’s first duty assignment was at Rhine Ordnance Barracks with the historic 41st Ordnance Company, 59th Ordnance Brigade.  She went on to serve with the 199th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, 6th Recruiting Brigade, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 1st Medical Brigade, 32nd Medical Brigade, 65th Medical Brigade, General Leonard Wood Community Hospital, Brooke Army Medical Center, Western Regional Medical Command, Regional Health Command-Pacific, and Regional Health Command-Central. Gavia deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. 

Gavia is a graduate of class 55 of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy and the Command Sergeants Major Course. Gavia holds a Master’s of Business Administration from American Military University.