Lt. Colonel Joan Burton

Joan Burton
Army Wives character
Wendy Davis as Col. Joan Burton
First appearance	"A Tribe is Born" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"All or Nothing" (episode 7.13)
Created by	Katherine Fugate
Portrayed by	Wendy Davis
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Garrison commander Soldier
Title	Colonel in the U.S. Army (23rd Airborne Division)
Spouse(s)	Roland Burton (husband; 2 children [1 adopted])
Children	David Burton (son, with Roland; adopted) Sara Elizabeth Burton (daughter, with Roland)
Residence	Fort Marshall, South Carolina

Colonel Joan Burton is a fictional character from the Lifetime television series Army Wives, portrayed by Wendy Davis.

Joan is a native of the projects of South Side, Chicago. She once stated that her classmates in high school were all either doing drugs or getting pregnant. In Season 6, she tells Roland that she briefly experimented with marijuana in high school and that one of her good friends moved on to heroin and ended up dying of overdose. A coach at her school spotted her athletic potential and track became her outlet and a way out of her impoverished background. She attended college on an Army ROTC scholarship and joined the army.

Joan is married to Dr. Roland Burton (Sterling K. Brown), which makes Roland the lone "Army husband" among the main characters. After returning from deployment in Season 1, Joan struggles with PTSD resulting from her experiences while deployed. Her relationship with Roland suffers, and he has a one-night stand with a visiting reporter due to his feelings of alienation and dissatisfaction. He confesses to Joan when she returns from abroad, leading talk of divorce. But the two reconcile following her announcement that she is pregnant and the explosion at the Hump Bar.

Season 2 deals with Joan's pregnancy, and her daughter, Sara Elizabeth, is born at the end of the Season. Sara Elizabeth celebrates her first birthday in Season 4. Sara Elizabeth's godparents are Claudia Joy and General Michael Holden. She and Roland adopt David in Season 5 and his adoption is finalized in the Season 6 premiere.

In the pilot episode Joan is introduced as a lieutenant colonel who returns from Afghanistan after nearly two years. Her career nearly ends with an Article 15 after a decision she makes causes one of her soldiers with PTSD to hold her husband Roland and Claudia Joy Holden hostage. She considers retiring to avoid a court martial and her career ending in disgrace, but Colonel Michael Holden changes his mind when she voluntarily separates herself from the army for a month to seek treatment at a VA clinic in Vermont for her PTSD. Throughout the first season, she struggles to cope with events that occurred while she was deployed, eventually leaving for a treatment facility. During the Season 1 finale, she discovers she is pregnant.