Colonel Rachael Hoagland enlisted in the Army Reserves on September 12th, 1996. She completed basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri followed by Administrative Specialist Advanced Individual Training at Fort Jackson, SC. She was assigned to the 317th Military Police Battalion in Tampa, FL where she reached the rank of Specialist. COL Hoagland entered the Army Reserves Officer Training Corps (ROTC) where she received her commission from the University of Hawaii and graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG) in December 1999. She entered active duty in February 2000 and was assigned to the 533rd MI BN, 66th MI Group in Darmstadt, Germany where she served as Platoon Leader of an Echelon Above Corps Intelligence Support Element. During her time as a Platoon Leader, she led her platoon on two major exercises providing real world intelligence to a V Corps exercise in Poland and a United States Army Europe (USAREUR) exercise in Italy. Additionally, she deployed her platoon to the United States National Intelligence Cell in Pristina, Kosovo as well as Camp Able Sentry, Macedonia where they provided critical intelligence during Task Force Falcon and Task Force Harvest. 

Following her time as Platoon Leader, COL Hoagland served as the Deputy Joint Intelligence Officer (J2) for the 69th Air Defense Brigade and deployed to Israel where she transitioned her team from a peacetime exercise to a wartime operation.  Shortly after her return from Israel, COL Hoagland deployed with the 565th Battalion, 130th Engineer as the Battalion Intelligence Officer (S2) to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Following this combat deployment, COL Hoagland took command of Headquarter and Headquarters Detachment (HHD) 565th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade in Hanau, Germany. Following her tour in Germany, COL Hoagland was assigned to the Area Support Group in Qatar.  There, she served as the Installation Security Officer where she used intelligence assets to help improve physical security, force protection, and anti-terrorism posture of the installation, all military, and Department of Defense personnel in Qatar. Following several years of deployments, COL Hoagland became an instructor at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, NY. She spent three years at West Point mentoring cadets as the Military Intelligence Branch representative.  Concurrently, she also served as an instructor in and out of the classroom, teaching topics ranging from military ethics to military tactics. 

In 2011, COL Hoagland graduated from the Army Project Management Course and began her career in Acquisition at the Joint Program Executive Office, Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) where she served as an Assistant Project Manager for Joint Enterprise Network Manager. Subsequently, she was assigned to United States Special Operations Command where she served as an Assistant Program Manager for Special Communications and Intelligence Support Systems which provided critical communications to Special Forces Operators. COL Hoagland served as a Training with Industry Fellow at Amazon Web Services, then spent a year in the Pentagon serving as Executive Officer to the Army Chief Information Officer. 

Beginning in 2018, COL Hoagland served in the Technology Application Program Office as the centrally selected Product Manager for Special Operations Aviation Mission Equipment. In this role, she equipped the Soldiers of the prestigious 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) with the most capable rotary wing aircraft in the world. Upon completion of her successful command, COL Hoagland attended the Army War College. After successful graduation, she served as the Director of Current Operations for the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. In this position, she worked at the strategic level to manage urgent and complex issues, which were demonstrated by her leading the Army’s coordination of over thirty Presidential Drawdown Authority packages totaling over $13 billion of equipment sent to Ukraine. Upon completion of her second tour in the Pentagon, COL Hoagland joined Army Futures Command, Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) at Ft. Shafter, HI as the Director of DEVCOM’s Indo-Pacific Forward Element responsible for representing the Army’s modernization enterprise in the Indo-Pacific Theater. 

COL Hoagland’s civilian education includes an Associate’s Degree in Photography from Mohawk Valley Community College, Bachelors of Arts in Communication from the University of Tampa, Bachelors of Science from Hawaii Pacific University, a Master of Science in Global Leadership from the University of San Diego’s School of Business, and a Master of Science in Strategic Studies from the Army War College. 

COL Hoagland is an avid runner - she has completed a marathon on all seven continents and has run over 50 marathons.  Intellectually curious by nature, COL Hoagland has traveled to over 70 countries where she enjoys immersing herself in local cultures and tasting native cuisines. She currently lives in Honolulu where she enjoys swimming in the ocean and is learning to play the ukulele.