Elder Ericka P. McRae
SPECIALIST (RETIRED) ERICKA P. MCRAE U. S. ARMY
2016-2023
Specialist Ericka McRae is a Georgia native. She has been ministering since she was a small child, having preached her first sermon at age 6. She originates from McRae, GA, but grew up in Atlanta, GA, and attended South Atlanta High School. During the summer of 2016, while transitioning into her senior year of high school, she enlisted in the Georgia Army National Guard. A week after graduating high school, she was licensed as a minister. She started basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in June 2017. Immediately following basic training, she went to the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center, where she was trained as a chaplain assistant. She served for a total of seven years as a Chaplain Assistant/Religious Affairs Specialist in the Georgia Army National Guard.
Throughout her military career, she was the acting chaplain for 5 years at her unit because her unit did not have a chaplain. She also worked in the ministry in her civilian life during that time, serving as a minister at her local church.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was activated along with other National Guard personnel. Her primary duty was to report to any food bank or COVID testing site that she was ordered to. She worked on this mission for 13 months, from April 2020 until May 2021. Some notable awards she received during that mission include the Army Achievement Medal, the Georgia National Guard State Active Duty Ribbon, the Georgia National Guard Humanitarian Service Award Ribbon, and her unit also received the GA Distinguished Unit Ribbon.
Specialist McRae received these awards for her selfless service by volunteering to assist the statewide COVID-19 response effort. She supported food distribution efforts all over the state of Georgia, but her time at the Mosaic church in Marietta, GA stood out the most. She distinguished herself through exemplary service. Specialist McRae fed approximately 400 families per month at Mosaic by building over 100 food boxes a day, which were distributed to families in the Marietta area. Her professional work ethic created a positive work environment for herself, her fellow soldiers, and her civilian counterparts throughout the entire mission. Her exceptional, meritorious service during the COVID-19 response effort did not go unrecognized. While serving at the Mosaic Church in Marietta, GA, Specialist McRae displayed conspicuous commitment to the army values and accepted responsibilities above her rank. Specialist McRae’s actions reflected great credit upon herself, Task Force Black Knight, the 221st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Battalion 78th Troop Command, and the Georgia Army National Guard, as well as the United States Army.
While on that mission, she sustained a TBI [traumatic brain injury] along with some other injuries that happened on duty. A pallet of food [canned items] collapsed on her head, neck, and back. As a result, she had to stop working because of the injuries she sustained. She is now a disabled veteran who continues to serve the community as a minister. She was ordained as an Elder in 2023 and now serves under the leadership of Apostle Keith R. Jackson Sr. at Upon This Rock Faith Ministry in Riverdale, Ga.
Elder McRae joined the National Association of Black Military Women on Veterans Day 2023 and was inducted as the Atlanta chapter chaplain in January 2024. Today, she continues to work as a chaplain and minister in her local church. In March 2025 she published her first book, "Leadership Through the Eyes of Elder E". Now she is working on a ministry training curriculum.