From Leavenworth Kansas high school to Army command; LHS Class of 2001 graduates now senior leaders at Fort Leavenworth

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kansas (Oct. 1, 2026) - Col. Tiffany Bilderback and Command Sgt. Maj. David Franks, both graduates of Leavenworth (Kansas) High School's Class of 2001, have returned to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to serve as senior Army leaders. Both come from military families, have taken different routes, and are now sharing a personal connection to the community they support.

Bilderback commands Munson Army Health Center, while Franks serves as the command sergeant major for the Fort Leavenworth Garrison. In their respective roles, both leaders help care for soldiers, service members, families, retirees and the civilians across the installation.

"In our respective roles, we have the privilege of helping care for the people who have cared for us growing up," Bilderback said. "It doesn't get much more special than that."

While one of them supports the health, wellness and medical readiness of the force and community, the other helps ensure the installation provides the services and environment people need to live, work and thrive. Those efforts directly support readiness, but they also strengthen the quality of life that makes this community special.

Bilderback was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to a military family. Although she lived in several locations around the world while growing up, she graduated from Leavenworth High School. As a junior in high school, she earned a ROTC scholarship and graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering in 2005. The day before graduation, she was commissioned into the Army Medical Service Corps. Over the years, her career has brought her back to Fort Leavenworth as a student at the Command and General Staff College from 2015-2016 and then to the Advanced Strategic Leadership Studies Program within the School of Advanced Military Studies from 2024-2025.

Franks was born in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and also comes from a military family. He considers Kansas home and enlisted in the Army just days after graduating from Leavenworth High School. While serving, he continued his education and earned his college degree, demonstrating the Army's opportunities for soldiers to pursue personal and professional growth throughout their careers. His path from local high school graduate to soldier to college graduate to command sergeant major reflects both his commitment to service and his enduring connection to the Fort Leavenworth community.

"We both grew up in this community during part of our childhoods, so returning here in positions of responsibility is especially meaningful," Franks said. "It gives us an opportunity to give back to the people and place that helped shape us."

About MAHC and Fort Leavenworth Garrison

Munson Army Health Center provides compassionate, efficient and highly reliable health care to enable soldier readiness and promote health and wellness for all eligible beneficiaries across the Fort Leavenworth community and the greater Kansas City area.

The Fort Leavenworth Garrison provides and sustains infrastructure, facilities and essential services to enable Combined Arms Command and tenant-unit mission accomplishment and enhance the quality of life of the Army community.

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is the oldest continuously operating military installation west of the Mississippi River. Built in 1827, it is the second-oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest permanent settlement in Kansas. This historic post is home to the Combined Arms Command. CAC, a major subordinate headquarters of the U.S. Army Training and Transformation Command, has often been referred to as the "Intellectual Center of the Army," with several institutional education opportunities.