TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
By Aaron Williams Brig. Gen. (ret.) Elmer T. Brooks 1933–2020 Assistant Undersecretary of Defense, NASA Executive, U.S. Air Force B rigadier General USAF (ret.) Elmer T. Brooks (Xi 1950) entered the Chapter Invisible at the age of 87. A native of After complet- ing the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1973, Brooks remained in Washington, DC,
Washington, DC, Brooks was born to Warren and Lelia Brooks and was the youngest of eight siblings. After losing both parents by age 14, his siblings helped raise him. In 1949, he gradu- ated from D.C.’s Dunbar High School. He attended Howard University on a basketball scholarship before gradu- ating from Miami (OH) University in 1954 with a B.A. in Zoology. He earned a commission into the U.S. Air Force (USAF) via the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He later received an M.S. degree from George Washington University and completed the Graduate School of Business's Executive Program at the University of Virginia. After entering the USAF in 1955, he was assigned to a Continental Air Command Air Reserve Flying Center in Pittsburgh, PA as unit adjutant, then as base director of personnel. Brooks served in the Philippines as a radar sta- tion commander and later as a person- nel division chief at Headquarters, 13 th Air Force, Clark Air Base. In 1961, USAF assigned Brooks as a missile combat crew commander and instruc- tor missile crew commander with the Atlas F intercontinental ballistic missile system at Lincoln Air Force Base, NE, including during the Cuban Missile Crisis. From 1965 to 1968, Brooks worked for the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center as a flight control technologist for the Gemini and Apollo space missions. He then became a re- source manager and section chief at the Air Force Military Personnel Center, Randolph AFB, TX.
as the executive officer in the Secretary of the Air Force, Space Systems Office. He later served as the military assistant to the special assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretaries of Defense in 1975. He later served as military assis- tant to Secretaries of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld and Harold Brown. In 1978, Brooks became vice commander of the 381 st Strategic Missile Wing, a Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile unit at McConnell AFB, KS, and commanded the wing for three years. He then returned to Washington, DC, as Assistant Deputy Director, Inter- national Negotiations, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Ron- ald Reagan appointed Brooks as Deputy Commissioner of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Standing Consultative Commission. In 1982, Brooks became Deputy Director, International Negotiations, Organiza- tion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineer- ing (Nuclear and Space Systems). He played a direct role in formulating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (SALT). In 1985, he retired from the U.S. Air Force after 30 years of service. After leaving the military, Brooks worked as a technology industry con- sultant and as a General Manager of a private investment banking firm in Lon- don. He returned to NASA as a Senior Executive Service for Special Projects.
Brooks also served as Deputy Associate Administrator for Management Systems and Facilities and later for Space Com- munications. He retired in 1995. His proudest achievements in his military career were as Commander of the team winning the Blanchard Trophy for Best Missile Wing competition in Strategic Air Command, USAF partici- pating in U.S. arms control policy as the representative of Joint Chiefs of Staff. Among his other numerous awards and decorations include the NAACP Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Meritori- ous Award; the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, DOD; The Defense Superior Service Medal, with two Oak Leaf Clusters; Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, George Washing- ton University; the NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership; the NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal; and the Living Legend Award of the Pigskin Club of Washington, DC, Inc. He was a member and former Vice- Chair, Board of Directors, and Mentor, Luke C. Moore Academy Senior High School, Washington, DC; Senior Mem- ber, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics; Air Force Association; Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.; Association of Air Force Missileers; and NAACP. General Elmer T. Brooks is survived by his beloved wife of 66 years, Kathryn (née Casselberry) Brooks, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren, a great- grandchild, a brother, and a host of dear relatives and friends. A son predeceased him.
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