Vincent K. Brooks
Vincent Keith Brooks (born October 24, 1958 in Anchorage , Alaska ) is a general in the US Army and has commanded the US Army Pacific since July 2, 2013 . He was previously Commanding General of the 3rd US Army since June 3, 2011 . Brooks was during the Iraq war in 2003 deputy director for operations of the US Central Command in Doha ( Qatar ). He became famous for the daily press conference he held .
Life
Military career
While studying at the US Military Academy at West Point , Brooks was the first African-American student to serve as a cadet brigade commander, a position of senior cadet comparable to a college- grade president. In 1980 he graduated from West Point, top of his class, with a Bachelor of Science degree . He later received a Masters in Military Studies from the School of Advanced Military Studies at Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . He also completed a four-year course as a National Security Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge , Massachusetts . He holds an honorary doctorate in law from the New England School of Law in Boston .
After graduating from West Point, he served in the US Army including several foreign assignments in South Korea , Panama and Europe, during the Second Gulf War on the staff of the 3rd US Army in Kuwait . Brooks completed various assignments, including as a first lieutenant in the 82nd US Airborne Division , as a captain in the 1st US infantry division , as a major in the 1st US cavalry division and as a lieutenant colonel in the 2nd US infantry division in South Korea. He also served in the Pentagon as aide-de-camp for the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army . As a colonel , he served at the headquarters of the 3rd US Army in the Coalition Joint Task Force Kuwait in the Persian Gulf .
Brooks graduated from the US Army War College in 1999 and was confirmed as the youngest nominee by the Senate Armed Services Committee as Brigadier General in 2002 and promoted to that rank in 2004. In Kosovo , in 2001, he served as deputy commander of US forces, Task Force Falcon, and as commander of 1st Brigade , 3rd Infantry Division , Fort Stewart , Georgia . He was then transferred to the Department of Defense to the Joint Staff and served in this assignment temporarily as Deputy Director of Operations of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) under General Tommy R. Franks . During the Iraq war in 2003, Brooks then acted in his capacity as the deputy director for operations as press spokesman for CENTCOM and was thus present in the media on a daily basis.
After this assignment in Iraq, he returned to the United States and served since April 2003 in the Joint Staff as strategic planner for the war on terror (Deputy Director J-5). He later served as Chief of Army Public Affairs in the Department of Defense. Since June 8, 2006, he was the deputy commanding general for support of the 1st US Cavalry Division, which was stationed in Iraq from November 2006 to December 2007 as the Baghdad Multi-National Division . From February to March 2008 he temporarily took over the command, as the commander of the division, Joseph F. Fil, Jr. was promoted and took over the command of the 8th US Army in South Korea. At the end of March he handed this command over to Major General Daniel P. Bolger and became a special assistant to the commanding general of the superior III. U.S. Corps , Raymond T. Odierno and then Rick Lynch . In April 2009 he took over command of the 1st US Infantry Division while being promoted to Major General , which he handed over to Major General William Mayville on May 25, 2011 .
On June 3, 2011, he was appointed Lieutenant General . At the same time he took over command of the 3rd US Army from Lieutenant General William G. Webster in Fort McPherson , Georgia .
On February 11, 2013, the Department of Defense announced that President Barack Obama has nominated Lieutenant General Vincent Brooks to command the US Army in the Pacific and a four-star general. The Senate confirmed the change on March 5, 2013.
Private
Brooks is married to the physiotherapist and educator Carol Brooks, who, like Brooks himself, comes from a military family.
Awards
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Defense Superior Service Medal
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Legion of Merit (2 ×) -
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
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Meritorious Service Medal (4 ×) -
Army Commendation Medal (2 ×) -
Army Achievement Medal (2 ×)
Promotions
| Badge of rank | rank | Date of carriage |
|---|---|---|
 |
Second lieutenant | May 28, 1980 |
 |
First lieutenant | November 28, 1981 |
 |
Captain | January 1984 |
 |
major | 1991 |
 |
Lieutenant Colonel | 1995 |
 |
Colonel | 1999 |
 |
Brigadier General | May 1, 2004 |
 |
Major General | April 2009 |
 |
Lieutenant General | June 3, 2011 |
 |
general | 2013 |
swell
- ↑ Appointment on Dvidshub.net
- ↑ Four-star general to assume Fort Shafter command ( Memento of the original from November 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Nominations confirmed. Accessed March 9, 2013
Web links
- Short biography of The HW Wilson Company ( Memento from July 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- Biography (English). Retrieved March 9, 2013
- Personal profile (English). Retrieved March 9, 2013
- Brooks as a four-star general . Retrieved August 2, 2013
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Brooks, Vincent K. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Brooks, Vincent Keith (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American military, general in the US Army |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 24, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Anchorage , Alaska |