Slide 1

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 2

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 3

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 4

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 5

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 6

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 7

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 8

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 9

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 10

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 11

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 12

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 13

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 14

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 15

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm


Slide 16

African American Soldiers in History

Can You Name Them All?
Click on each photo on the next slide to reveal the names
and achievements of some outstanding African American soldiers.

Sergeant William H. Carney
•

First African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

•

In 1863, Sergeant William Carney entered the military and became a
member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry.

•

In July of 1863, Carney found himself in the fierce Battle of Fort Wagner.
After being wounded, Sergeant Carney saw that the color bearer had been
shot down a few feet away. Carney summoned all his strength to retrieve
the fallen colors and continued the charge. During the charge Carney was
shot several more times, yet he kept the colors flying high. Once delivering
the flag back to his regiment, he shouted “The Old Flag never touched the
ground!” For this act Sergeant Carney became the first African American to
receive the Medal of Honor.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Cathay Williams aka William Cathay
•

First African American Woman to Enlist in U. S. Army

•

On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted in the Army using the
name William Cathay. She informed her recruiting officer that she was a
22 year-old cook. He described her as 5’ 9”, with black eyes, black hair and
black complexion. An Army surgeon examined Cathay and determined the
recruit was fit for duty, thus sealing her fate in history as the first
documented African-American woman to enlist in the Army even though
U.S. Army regulations forbade the enlistment of women

•

She was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry and traveled throughout the
west with her unit. During her service, she was hospitalized at least five
times, but no one discovered she was a female. After less than two years of
service, Cathay was given a disability discharge but little is known of the
exact medical reasons.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Harriet Tubman
•

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Tubman served as a Soldier, spy, and a
nurse, for a time serving at Fortress Monroe, where Jefferson Davis would
later be imprisoned. While guiding a group of black Soldiers in South
Carolina, she met Nelson Davis, who was ten years her junior. Denied
payment for her wartime service, Tubman was forced, after a bruising
fight, to ride in a baggage car on her return to Auburn.

•

After her death, Harriet Tubman was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in
Auburn, with military honors. She has since received many honors,
including the naming of the Liberty Ship Harriet Tubman, christened
in 1944 by Eleanor Roosevelt. On June 14, 1914 a large bronze plaque
was placed at the Cayuga County Courthouse, and a civic holiday
declared in her honor. Freedom Park, a tribute to the memory of Harriet
Tubman, opened in the summer of 1994 at 17 North Street in Auburn.
In 1995, Harriet Tubman was honored by the federal government with a
commemorative postage stamp bearing her name and likeness.
Source: www.nyhistory.com/harriettubman/life.htm

Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper
•

Appointed to U.S. Military Academy: 1873

•

In 1877, Henry Flipper became the first African American to graduate from
the U.S. Military Academy. He was commissioned second lieutenant and
assigned to the 10th Cavalry Unit.

•

He was commissioned second lieutenant and assigned to the 10th Cavalry
Unit. Although Flipper became the first African-American Army officer, his
military career was brief. In 1882, he was a part of a controversial dismissal
for “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen” following questionable
charges of embezzling funds. Throughout his civilian life, Flipper maintained
that he was innocent of the charges. Following his death in 1940, his family
and supporters continued the fight to clear his name. In 1999, President
William Clinton pardoned Lieutenant Henry O. Flipper, recognizing the error
and acknowledging the lifetime accomplishments of this American Soldier.

Brigadier General Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
•

First African American General Officer

•

Entered Service: July 13, 1898

•

Benjamin O. Davis entered the service during the War with Spain as a
temporary first lieutenant of the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry. In 1899, he was
discharged from the service. In June of the same year, he again enlisted,
this time as a private in the 9th Cavalry. He then served as corporal and
squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned
a second lieutenant of Cavalry. In 1940, he became the first AfricanAmerican General Officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, earning the rank of
brigadier general.

•

General Davis served as an inspector for the Inspector General and later as
a special investigator for the Secretary of War’s Advisory Committee on
Negro Troop Policies. His investigations of discrimination and racial
disturbances brought to light the problems of a racially closed military.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis
•

First Female Command Sergeant Major of a Combat Arms Unit

•

Command Sergeant Major Evelyn Hollis is currently attached to the 1st
Battalion, 31st Air Defense Artillery Command. She entered the Army in
1979 during a time of great debate over whether women should serve in
combat units. She started her military career as an Administrative
Specialist.
In the 1990’s, numerous opportunities began opening for women to serve in
combat arms units. During this time, she was offered the opportunity to
advance her career by switching her career field to Air Defense Artillery.
Since then, Hollis has moved through the ranks and received the Bronze
Star for her service during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi
Freedom. In April 2004, she made history when she became the first female
Command Sergeant Major of a combat arms unit by assuming duties of the
1st Battalion 31st Air Defense Artillery Command.

•

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney
•

Brigadier General Belinda Pinckney is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Community and Family Support Center in Alexandria, Virginia. She began her Army
career as an enlisted Soldier, a young private. Later, she elected to become an
officer and was accepted into Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
where she was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1979.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney is the first woman in the history of the Army Finance
Corps to be promoted to general and the first woman selected as a general officer in
the comptroller field. She was formerly the principal deputy director of the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service. Prior to that, she worked at the Pentagon as a
congressional liaison officer for the undersecretary of defense comptroller.

•

Brigadier General Pinckney holds a bachelor’s degree in busines administration from
the University of Maryland, a master’s degrees in finance and in natural resources
strategy. She is one of two African Americans among the 11 female general officers
currently on active duty in the U.S. Army.

•

She is the first African American woman to be inducted into the Officer Candidate
School’s Hall of Fame.
Source: http://maximumimpact.com

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders
•

Silver Star Recipient, Operation Iraqi Freedom

•

Sergeant Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003,
fresh from Army basic training. Sanders’ tank crew and two others from his
unit were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by
Iraqi insurgents.

•

Because the unit had been scheduled to move, the tanks had been
prepared for transport, and were carrying only a minimum load of ammo.
Sanders said he did his best, standing exposed to the enemy in one of the
tank’s hatches and firing whatever he or his fellow crew members could
find. A round struck Sanders in the arm, slicing straight through his shoulder
and out the other side, but he says he barely noticed, waving off the medics
who tried to come to his aid. When the bullets ran out, Sanders still wouldn’t
give up. When he ran out of bullets, he threw rocks.
Source: http://www4.army.mil

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks
•

Entered Service: May 1980

•

During the American-led war with Iraq in the early months of 2003, TV
audiences around the world watched Brigadier General Brooks conduct the
daily press conferences for the Army. He was widely referred to as “the face
of the U.S. military.”

•

At West Point, Brooks became the first African American in the school’s
history to be named cadet brigade commander (the top-ranking cadet), a
position in which, somewhat like the president of a college class, he led
more than 4,000 cadets during his senior year. Brooks graduated first in his
class in 1980.

•

Moving through the ranks in the Army, Brooks served as a brigade
commander during Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo. In June 2002, he
became the spokesman for the U.S. Army Central Command in Qatar
during Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, Major General Leo A.
Brooks, Sr. (ret.), is the first African American Army General with two sons
who have attained the rank of General.
Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle
•

Lieutenant General Rochelle assumed duties as the Deputy Chief of Staff,G-1 (Army
Personnel), United States Army, in June 2006. His previous command assignments
include commander of the 226th Adjutant General Company (Postal) in Munich,
Germany; the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, Portland, Maine; the New
England Recruiting Battalion), Brunswick, Maine; the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort
Monroe, Virginia; the U.S. Army Soldier Support Institute, Fort Jackson, South
Carolina; and the Commanding General, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox,
Kentucky.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Foreign Language
Education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. He also holds a Master of Arts
Degree in Public Administration.

•

Lieutenant General Rochelle is a highly decorated officer. He has been awarded the
Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf
cluster (Army), the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three
oak leaf clusters, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service
Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf
clusters, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, Recruiter Badge, Office of the
Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge,
and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
Source: http://www.armyg1.army.mil

General Colin L. Powell
•

On January 20, 2001, Colin L. Powell became the first African American to
be appointed to the position of Secretary of State. Before becoming
Secretary of State, Powell served 35 years in the U. S. Army, achieving the
rank of four-star General. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
January 1991, during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

•

Powell began his military career in the ROTC program at the City College of
New York and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon
graduation in June 1958. As Secretary, Powell used both his military and
diplomatic skills in representing our country and its interests in the Global
War on Terrorism. He also led the State Department in major efforts to
solve regional and civil conflicts throughout the world, enhance U.S. trade
and business, and fight global infectious disease around the world,
especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm

General William E. (Kip) Ward
•

General William E. (Kip) Ward is Deputy Commander, Headquarters US European
Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is responsible for the day to day
operational activities for US forces operating across 92 countries in Europe, Africa,
Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic
Ocean.

•

General Ward was commissioned as a Regular Army officer after earning a
bachelor’s in political science from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in
political science from Pennsylvania State University.

•

His military service includes overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel,
two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States,
including Alaska and Hawaii. He was a brigade commander in Mogadishu, Somalia.
For a year, until October 2003, he commanded the Nato Stabilization Force in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He has also toured in South Korea, Germany, and served at the
American Embassy in Egypt. Subsequently, he was Deputy Commander,
Headquarters US European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. USEUCOM is
responsible for the day to day operational activities for US forces operating across 92
countries in Europe, Africa, Russia, parts of Asia and the Middle East, the
Mediterranean and most of the Atlantic Ocean.
Source: http://www.eucom.mil

Chaplain (Major) Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad
•

First African American Muslim U. S. Army Chaplain

•

Major Abdul-Rasheed Muhammad enlisted in the Army in 1982 with one
mission, to support and counsel Soldiers. He spent most of his three-year
tour of duty working as a chaplain’s assistant and a behavioral science
specialist. With his Masters Degree and experience in counseling, he
continued his work in social services after he left the Army in 1985.

•

He was working as a chaplain for the New York Department of Corrections
when he learned that the Army was searching for Muslim chaplains. In
1994, he was accepted for the position and returned to military duty. For 10
years, he served as a chaplain at several Army post around the world
providing pastoral care to Soldiers of all faiths. In 2004, he was deployed to
support Soldiers in Iraq. MAJ Muhammad believes that a chaplain’s role is
to be an advocate for the religious needs of everyone he or she serves. He
is currently stationed in Heidelberg, Germany where he counsels Soldiers
and their families.
Source: Interview

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington
•

Highest Ranking Public Affairs Non-Commissioned Officer

•

Sergeant Major Vicki L. Washington found her dream career in the Army: print and
broadcast journalism. As a reporter, talk show producer and host, she has been
stationed in idyllic places such as Hawaii and has reported live from historic events in
world history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. While in Germany, she took the helm
of an AFN (Armed Forces Network) show called, “Berlin PM”, reformatting it into an
interview show that hosted celebrities who were visiting the city. Her very first guest
was legendary actor Kirk Douglas.

•

After 12 years as an active duty journalist Soldier, Sergeant Major Washington
returned to civilian life and became a producer at a Hawaiian television station. She
didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as her previous job, so she enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve and resumed her work with Army Public Affairs. After a series of promotions,
including management of a production budget of more than one million dollars for the
Army Reserve Magazine, she is now the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in
Army Reserve Public Affairs. She oversees the training, mobilization, and deployment
of journalist Soldiers. She is the first African American in that position.

Source: http://www.goarmy.com/bhm