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Brooks, Vincent (Army First Division oral history)

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Brooks, Vincent K Goodwin, Gerald

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Major General Vincent Brooks has commanded the 1st Infantry Division since April 15, 2009. General Brooks describes his pleasure at returning to the Big Red One after serving with four other divisions, and other positions he held within the division during the Cold War. Brooks is proud of his time in the army and the army's accomplishments, and related that "at the age of fifty I tell everyone I've been in the Army for fifty years." The first African-American family to have three generals in two generations (Brooks himself, brother Leo A. Brooks, Jr., and father Leo A. Brooks, Sr.), he also served as the first African-American Cadet First Captain at West Point (1979-1980). He relates his appreciation of his parents' traditions of excellence, which taught him to excel in spite of racism and to never use his cultural identity as a crutch or excuse. Brooks, admitted to West Point in spite of a late application and at least partially on his athletic ability, describes West Point as the premier leadership school in the country and notes the intense competitiveness of cadets there. The general delivers an anecdote from his term as Cadet First Captain regarding the celebratory mood on the Friday night that the U.S. hockey team beat the Russian team. Brooks made the decision to cancel Saturday morning inspections the next day. The tactical officers who would conduct the inspections showed up, knocked on doors, and were confused. Brooks then segues into characteristics of a good leader--primarily, caring...

Record Contributed By

Ohio University Libraries

Record Harvested From

Ohio Digital Network

Keywords

  1. African American Soldiers
  2. African Americans
  3. Army
  4. Biography
  5. Brooks, Vincent K
  6. Cold War
  7. History
  8. Infantry Division, 1st
  9. Interviews
  10. Iraq War, 2003
  11. Soldiers
  12. United States

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