U.S. ARMY
American history, the United States Air Force saw its very first African American become its Chief of Staff in 2020. Gen- eral Charles Q. Brown acknowledged being the first African American to be appointed as chief of staff, and the first African American to lead any branch of the United States Armed Forces. In discussing some approaches, objectives and recommendations the U. S. Army can develop and implement to ensure a framework that seeks to promote fair treatment and full participation be- come the standard to address diversity, equity and inclusion within the rank in file, especially within the officer corps, General Hamilton shared that, "We have a very diverse officer corps, obviously we have made some significant progress over the years. However, we cannot rest on our laurels, we must continue to reach out to our young men and women and educate and encourage them to serve. It doesn’t have to be for 40 years like me, it can be an opportunity to get your college degree paid for by either attending West Point or participating in ROTC. Our HBCUs have provided that steady pipeline over the years, so we must continue to invest and ensure our HBCU leadership understand the value of those programs.” The Value of Education “My parents taught me values at an early age and those values are not far off from what the Army values taught me. My mother, the matriarch of the family was an English teacher. She instilled in me the purpose of giving to others. She taught me the value of serving a bigger purpose than oneself. As I got older and matured, those core values that I learned from home continued to mani- fest through me with our Army values. While in high school my history teacher, a Kappa man illustrated to me what an outstanding man of character and what an educated Black man looked like. He spoke with us about higher education and Kappa Alpha Psi. Once I became a member of Kappa, I participated in training for leadership (Province
Council, C. Rodger Wilson Leadership Conference and Grand Chapter Meet- ing) which taught me many life skills, that’s where I would build confidence in myself. Through many Kappa core programs, I had the opportunity to brief industry leaders at Province Councils, C. Rodger Wilson Leadership Confer- ence & Grand Chapter Meetings. I truly honed & learned life changing social skills, I saw the commitment and the value of Kappa Alpha Psi close-up that I hadn’t seen previously.” On Giving Back “The fraternity provided many op- portunities for me to give back to several communities across the nation and in giving back I gained so much more. I interacted and saw many young men who may have not been on the right track, but it was through Kappa Alpha Psi that I was able to reach many young men of color.” “As a Colonel, I was on my way to a Kappa fundraising event. There was a gentleman in the elevator at the event that I had met several years back. When I initially met the young man, he was a middle school student, I asked him what he wanted to be in life and at that time
he told me that he wanted to be the best car thief in his neighborhood. That same day in the elevator while headed to the Kappa Fundraiser, the same young man told me that he was now attending Howard University School of Law.” “I really cannot overemphasize the importance of Kappa leadership, we take it for granted, the inside access to so many Nupes throughout the frater- nity. This access is emblematic, and it represents the talented leadership of Kappa Alpha Psi located throughout the four corners of the globe. We are men in the community, in various leader- ship roles, we do it quietly and we can see the fruits of our labor. Again, I am reminded that I stand on the shoulders of many brothers like the 72 nd Laurel Wreath Recipient General Dennis L. Via, U.S. Army (Ret.). We call them Buffalo Soldiers and this is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon such a service member, period.” Finally, towards the culmination of the interview, General Hamilton discussed the number of commands that AMC supports across the globe. He noted an upcoming visit to U.S. Africa Command, headquartered in Stuttgart,
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PUBLISHING ACHIEVEMENT IN EVERY FIELD OF HUMAN ENDEAVOR
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