Vincent K. Brooks

Vincent Keith Brooks (born October 24, 1958) is a United States Army four-star general who is the current commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific. He previously served as commanding general of the Third Army. Brooks was the United States Army's Deputy Director of Operations during the War in Iraq, and frequently briefed the media, which raised his public profile. He also served as the Chief of Army Public Affairs the The Pentagon. He later was commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division. General Brooks assumed his current assignment on July 2, 2013.

Family
Brooks was born in Anchorage, Alaska. He grew up in an Army family in California, and his father Major General Leo A. Brooks Sr. and brother Brigadier General Leo A. Brooks Jr. both retired after careers in the Army. He attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Virginia, for two years and then Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California, and graduated in 1976. He attended the United States Military Academy where he rose to the rank of Cadet First Captain, the highest position (Cadet Brigade Commander), a cadet can hold. He was the first African-American cadet to hold this prestigious position. He graduated from West Point in 1980.

Military service
He was a basketball player and he decided to follow his brother to West Point to study to become an officer. At West Point, Brooks was the academy's first African-American cadet First Captain, an appointment that brought much public visibility at an early age in life. After graduating in 1980, Brooks served in Korea and Kosovo among other places. In Kosovo he concurrently served as the deputy commander of the U.S. force in Kosovo (Task Force Falcon) and as commander of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. From that position he moved to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. While serving there he was temporarily assigned to be Deputy Director of Operations at U.S. Central Command or CENTCOM. Returning to the Pentagon and The Joint Staff in April 2003 he became the Strategic Planner for the War on Terrorism.

In his role as Deputy Director of Operations he also became the spokesperson of United States Central Command, the main force in the Middle East. At that time he was the youngest general officer in the Army. He served as the Commanding General, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas April 2009 to May 2011 and then became 3rd Army Commanding General.

Quotes

 * "We are role models to a lot of young people, not just African Americans and soldiers,"
 * "People can see the achievement and how hard work leads to it."