Generals
LTG (R) Julius Becton
Lieutenant General Julius Wesley Becton Jr. was born on June 29, 1926 to Julius and Rose Becton in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. His father worked as a janitor in their apartment building. His mother was a housekeeper and laundress. In December 1943, Julius Becton joined the Army Air Corps Enlisted Reserves. After graduating high school in 1944, Becton joined the active army. It was Becton’s hope that he would become a pilot but was ruled ineligible because of astigmatism.
Though the Army was segregated in 1944, Officer Candidate School was not. Julius Becton and sixteen other African American candidates completed OCS in 1945 and were commissioned as second lieutenants. Shortly after his commissioning, Lt. Becton was assigned to serve in the Philippines.
Upon his return from the Philippines, Becton left the army and attended Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In 1948, after President Harry S. Truman had desegregated the military, Becton was accepted for active duty once again and remained in the Army until 1983. During that period he saw combat duty in Korea and Vietnam. He was also stationed in Germany, the Philippines, France, the Southwest Pacific, and Japan during his service. Steadily moving up the ranks, in 1972 Becton was promoted to Brigadier General.
As an army General he commanded the 1st Cavalry Division, the United States Army Operations Test and Evaluation Agency, and the VII U.S. Corps. With that appointment in 1978, General Becton was the first African American officer to command a Corps in the U.S. Army.
In 1960, Becton earned a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Prairie View A&M in Texas. He received a Master’s in economics from the University of Maryland in 1967. He is also a graduate of the United States Command and General Staff College, the Armed Forces Staff College, and the National War College.
After retiring as a Lieutenant General in 1983, Gen. Becton held several important posts in the U.S. government, the private sector, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). From January 1984 to October 1985 he was director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. President Ronald Reagan appointed him the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a post he held between 1985 and 1989. Becton later was Chief Operating Officer (CEO) of American Coastal Industries and he was named chairman of the Senior Civil Emergency Planning Committee for NATO.
In 1989 the Texas A&M University Board of Regents unanimously voted Gen. Becton the president of Prairie View A&M, the university from which he earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1960. Becton, who remained in this position until 1994, was the first Prairie View A&M graduate to be selected president of the institution. Between 1996 and 1998 General Becton was Superintendent of Schools in Washington, D.C.
Gen. Becton married Louise Thornton on January 29, 1948. They have five children together.
MG (R) Julius Parker
MG Jay Parker was born in New Braunfels, Texas, on 14 April 1935. Upon completion of the Reserve Officers Training Corps curriculum and the educational course of study at Prairie View A&M University in 1955, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry and awarded Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Chemistry. He also received a Master of Science degree in Public Administration from Shippensburg State College. MG Parker held a wide variety of important command and staff positions culminating in his assignment as Commanding General, United States Army Intelligence Center and School, from 1985 to 1989.
As the first Chief of the MI Corps, MG Parker oversaw the activation of the MI Corps and created the MI Corps motto, “Always Out Front.” During activation ceremonies at Fort Huachuca, a new MI Corp flag was unfurled, and at similar
ceremonies around the world, all members of the MI Corps received their new distinctive regimental insignia, the MI Corps Crest. He also presided over the creation of the MI Corps Hall of Fame, first with the induction of 10 Distinguished Members of the Corps in 1987, and then with 88 new inductees a year later during the first Hall of Fame ceremony. As he remarked in his letter to the Corps on 1 July 1987, the activation of the Corps “begins the affiliation of all soldiers and civilians with the Corps, thus marking their entry into the US Army Regimental System.” Further, he stated that the event was “a recognition and celebration of our evolution from a plethora of diverse and separate intelligence agencies into a cohesive MI community…”
Following attendance at the Infantry Advanced Course, Imagery Interpretation Course,and Airborne School, MG Parker was reassigned to US Army Europe. He served in the 207th MI Detachment from 1963 to 1964 as an Imagery Interpretation Officer, Executive Officer, and Commander. He also served as Assistant G2 Plans and Training Officer, VII Corps, until April 1966.
Back in the United States, MG Parker was assigned next as Operations and Training Officer, US Army Continental Command, Fort Monroe, Virginia, until July 1967. He went to Vietnam as the Senior District Advisor, Due Thanh District, Sadec Province, IV Corps, Republic of Vietnam for a year, and then attended Command and General Staff College. From 1969 to 1972, MG Parker served in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, where he was a Combat Intelligence Staff Officer and Chief of the Ground Surveillance Branch.
Returning to Europe in 1972, MG Parker he served as the first Commander of the 165th MI Battalion and then as G2, 3rd Armored Division. In August 1975, he attended the Army War College, and then remained as a Strategic Research Analyst in the Strategic Studies Institute and a Faculty Instructor in the Command and Management Department. Assigned to Colonel-level command in Korea from July 1977 to July 1979, he successfully organized and integrated four independent intelligence units to form the Army’s first multi-discipline brigade level Combat Electronic Warfare and Intelligence (CEWI) organization, the 501st MI Group, the forerunner of the modern MI Brigade structure.
MG Parker directly participated in or supervised the conversion to or activation of 14 of the 18 CEWI battalions and four of the seven MI brigades within the US Army. He was also responsible for initiating development and implementation of the MICROFIX program, which resulted in the first use of computers and automation equipment within the US Army for intelligence mission purposes at echelons corps and below.
MG Parker retired in 1989. MG Parker’s awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with “V” Device (1Oak Leaf Cluster), the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal (3 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (1 Oak Leaf Cluster), the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Parachutist Badge, and the Department of the Army Staff and Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badges.
MG Parker was inducted into the MI Hall of Fame in 1990.
BG (R) Johnnie Forte
Johnie Forte Jr., 62, a retired Army brigadier general who since leaving active duty in 1987 had been assistant superintendent for general services of Fairfax County public schools, died of an aneurysm June 3, 199 at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Gen. Forte, who lived in Lorton, oversaw a vast operation in the largest school district in the Washington area. He made sure there was chalk in the classrooms, reading material for students and food in the cafeteria — details that if carried out efficiently were often taken for granted. He also was in charge of the school system’s security and internal mail, bus transportation for 100,000 students and administration of the insurance coverage of school employees.
Beyond the school system, he did volunteer work, serving as a board member of several organizations and as a mentor to young people in the military, the school system and the community. He was a lay leader at Messiah United Methodist Church in West Springfield, a member of the executive committee for the Fairfax-Falls Church United Way and a board member of Clean Fairfax Council Inc. He also belonged to the Springfield Rotary Club and the Rocks Inc., an organization of active-duty and retired commissioned officers.
Gen. Forte served in variety of command and staff positions in Korea, Vietnam and Germany during some of his 31 years in the military. His posts included that of assistant commander of the 8th Infantry Division in Germany. He had also held personnel and administrative staff positions with the U.S. European Command and at the Pentagon.
His military honors included the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Defense Superior Service Award.
Gen. Forte, a Texas native, was a political science graduate of Prairie View A&M University and received a master’s degree in public administration from Auburn University.
His wife, Dolores Bowles, died in 1998. Survivors include a daughter, Denise Forte of Alexandria; two stepchildren, Mitchell Johnson of Jonesboro, Ga., and Sherri Johnson of Brooklyn, N.Y.; a brother, Arnold Forte of Oxon Hill; two sisters, Pearlie Fields and Nina Faye Brown, both of New Boston, Tex.; and a granddaughter.
LTG (R) Billy Solomon
Billy King Solomon is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General. Born November 16, 1944 in Oakwood, Freestone County, Texas, he attended Prairie View A&M University and graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture. While at Prairie View he enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) and upon graduation was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps.
Over the next three decades he rapidly climbed the ranks and held a variety of critical positions. Less than a year after joining the Army, Solomon began his first tour of duty in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War where he served with the 266th Supply and Service Battalion. While in Vietnam he was promoted to Captain. He was then briefly stationed at Fort Hood, Texas before returning to serve in Vietnam from 1971 to 1972 as Commander of Headquarters Company with the 88th Supply and Service Battalion.
In 1972 he was assigned to the 109th Military Intelligence Group at Fort Meade, Maryland and from there was assigned to the Panama Canal Zone. From June 1982, Solomon, now a Colonel, served as protocol officer in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army. Following assignments at Fort Polk, Louisiana and Fort Hood, Texas, Solomon was promoted to Brigadier General on October 1, 1992. He then served as Commander of the Joint Logistics Task Force for United Nations operations in Somalia and then Assistant Chief of Staff for United States forces in Korea. From 1997 to 1997 he was Director of Logistics and Security Assistance of United States Army Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida from 1997 to 1999, and finally Commanding General, Combined Support Command at Fort Lee, Virginia from 1999 to 2002. Over the last decade of his service, General Billy Solomon led the development of Army doctrine, training, material, and IT requirements for the Combat Service Support Branches of the U.S. Army.
At the end of his service, Solomon was a three-star Lieutenant General of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) which is located at Fort Lee, Virginia and trains over one hundred eighty thousand students a year. General Billy King Solomon retired from the military on September 30, 2002, after a total of thirty-six years of service. Through those years Solomon acquired a multitude of illustrious awards and honors including a Defense Distinguished Service Medal, a Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army), a Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star Medal, a Meritorious Service Medal, an Army Commendation Medal, and an Army Achievement Medal.
Following retirement, he helped found Metters Industries, Inc., a research and development firm focused on systems engineering and served as its President and Chief Operating Officer (CTO). On April 13, 2005, Solomon joined the Society of Research Administrators (SRA) international as Vice President, Deployment and Distribution Support.
MG James Cheatham
Major General Cheatham’s home state is Texas. He received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Prairie View A&M University and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve. Major General Cheatham also has a masters of science degree in civil engineering from Purdue University. In his civilian life, Major General Cheatham serves as the Director of the Office of Planning with the Federal Highway Administration in Washington, D.C. His military education includes the Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.
After completing his officer basic training, Major General Cheatham served as an Assistant Executive Officer with the Engineer School Brigade at Fort Belvoir, Va. He later served as an Assistant Operations Officer, 718th Transportation Battalion, in Columbus, Ohio; Pipeline Officer, 364th Engineer Group in Columbus, Ohio; Reconnaissance and Intelligence Officer, and Company Commander in the 972nd Engineer Battalion in Indianapolis, Ind.; Soils Engineer, 416th Engineer Company, Chicago, Ill., Commander, 367th Engineer Battalion, Fort Snelling, Minn.; Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations and later, Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, 88th U.S. Army Reserve, Fort Snelling, Minn.; Commander, 372nd Engineer Group, Des Moines, Iowa; Assistant Chief of Staff Comptroller, 416th Engineer Company, Darien, Ill., and Commander, 411th Engineer Brigade, New Windsor, N.Y.
From March-August 2003 and July 2005-May 2006, Major General Cheatham was on active duty and was assigned as Acting Director of Military Programs and the Deputy Chief of Engineers-Reserve Components, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C.
Major General James A. Cheatham assumed the duties of the U.S. Army Materiel Command’s Assistant Deputy Commanding General for Reserve Affairs on June 19, 2006. Previously he was the Deputy Chief of Engineers-Reserve Components, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C.
Major General Cheatham’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with an oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters.
LTG (R) Marvin Brailsford
Lieutenant General Marvin D. Brailsford was born in Burkeville, Texas on January 1939 and graduated from Prairie View A&M University in 1959.
His Ordnance career began in 1974 when he assumed command of the 101st Ordnance Battalion, 60th Ordnance Group, VII Corps, U.S. Army Europe. In 1976, he became the Deputy Commander, Kaiserslautern Army Depot and in 1978, he served at the U.S. Army Armament Research and Development Command in Dover, New Jersey. As Assistant Project Manager for Logistics and later as Assistant Development Officer for Select Ammunition, he managed the acquisition of the M4831A1 155mm and M509E1 8-inch artillery projectiles. In 1982, he assumed command of the 60th Ordnance Group, 21st Support Command with operations in England, the Benelux countries, and Germany. Here he demonstrated a remarkable ability to plan for the receipt, issue, shipment, and maintenance of conventional ammunition stocks, and all explosive ordnance disposal. He next commanded the Armament, Munitions, and Chemical Command at Rock Island, Illinois. He began production of the first components of the M687 binary chemical weapon, fielded the M1059 Smoke Generator, and executed the fielding of major items, such as Copperhead and M16A2 Rifles. He also planned and coordinated on-site Soviet inspections in support of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces mission.
He concluded his active duty career as Deputy Commanding General for Materiel Readiness, U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) and as the Department of Defense Executive Director for Conventional Ammunition Readiness. He was the key participant in the transfer of the Army’s Supply Distribution function to the Defense Logistics Agency and created a Competition Business Office within AMC. Throughout Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, he provided expert guidance and direction in support of the largest and swiftest strategic movement of munitions ever conducted. General Brailsford retired in 1992.
LTG (R) Calvin Waller
Calvin Augustine Hoffman Waller was a United States Army officer who rose to prominence as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief for military operations with United States Central Command (Forward), during the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991). He became at that time one of the highest-ranking African American officers in the U.S. military.
Lt. General Waller was born on December 17, 1937 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He attended both Shippensburg State College then Prairie View A&M University in Texas. After graduating in 1959, Waller enlisted in the United States Army and served for 32 years. He served in the Vietnam War for one year as a junior officer and later commanded the Eighth Infantry Division in Germany during the 1980s. His career also included a variety of staff assignments and commanding posts during his career. He also earned numerous awards and decorations including: the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal (two awards), the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star (with Oak Leaf Cluster), the Meritorious Service Medal (with three Oak Leaf Clusters), the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and the Master Parachutist Badge.
As General Norman H. Schwarzkopf’s deputy during the Persian Gulf War, he proved to be vital to the victory even as his commanding officers, Schwarzkopf and U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Colin Powell, received most of the publicity. He had the courage to admit shortcomings within the U.S. military at the time of the conflict. He stated publicly, for example, that the United States was short troops in the Persian Gulf region when the war began. Likewise, after the war, he officially endorsed Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign as a subtle sign of disapproval with the George H.W. Bush administration’s approach to the conflict.
Lt. General Waller’s last assignment was as Commanding General, I Corps at Fort Lewis, Washington. He retired on November 30, 1991 at the relatively young age of 53 shortly after the Persian Gulf War ended. It was widely speculated that his abrupt retirement was a sign of his disillusionment with the high command during the Gulf War.
After his retirement, Waller served as the President and CEO of RKK Limited, a Denver, Colorado-based environmental technology company. He was later Senior Vice President for the Department of Energy Programs for the ICF Kaiser Environmental and Energy Group. In July 1995, he joined the environmental contractor, Kaiser-Hill.
Lt. General Waller also earned many civic awards including the Martin Luther King, Jr. “Buffalo Soldier” Award from the Congress of Racial Equality, the Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award from the NAACP, the French Legion of Honor Award from the Government of France, and the “Star of Texas” award from the state of Texas.
On May 9, 1996, Lt. General Waller passed away in Washington, D.C. due to complications from a heart attack. Waller is survived by his wife of 37 years, Marion Waller, and sons Michael and Mark.
BG Carlton Smith
Prairie View A&M University has a long and proud tradition of military instruction dating back to 1943. Prairie View A&M is the only Historically Black College and University in the entire state of Texas that hosts an Army ROTC program.
It is through this program Carlton G. Smith launched his military career after receiving his commission in 1992. In recent days, the United States Army promoted Smith to the distinguished rank of Brigadier General (BG).
While at Prairie View, Smith studied business management, earning his Bachelor of Business Administration. Upon graduating was placed on active duty and assigned to 2-2 Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Polk, La serving as a Fire Support Officer.
In 1998 BG Smith joined the Texas Army National Guard and held a variety of leadership positions to include, Battery Executive Officer, Battery Commander, Battalion Executive Officer, Battalion Commander, Division G3, Regional Training Institute Commander and most recently the commander of the 56th Infrantry Brigade CombatTeam During last year’s devastating natural disaster, BG Smith was the Task Force Commander for the Texas Army National Guard’s emergency response to Hurricane Harvey. He will be assigned as the Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for the Texas Army National Guard.
After the events of 9-11, like his father, Carlton Smith was ordered to serve his country at war. BG Smith is the son of military veteran James Edward Smith, who served in World War II. Carlton deployed on three separate occasions in support of the Global War on Terror, twice to Afghanistan in 2003 and 2006 as an Afghan Army Mentor and Military Transition Team Commander respectively and to Iraq in 2010 as the Deputy Chief of Lethal Fires.
BG Smith’s military education includes the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course, the Field Artillery Captain Career Course, the Joint Operational Fires and Effects Course, Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army War College, the U.S. Army Airborne School and the U.S. Army Air Assault School.
BG Carlton Smith has erupted a sense of pride in his Prairie View A&M University family. “Carlton was my classmate and it’s gratifying to bear witness that Prairie View is producing productive people,” shares Fred Washington, Vice President Auxiliary Services and Interim Athletic Director, in a recent PVAMU sponsored event.
As a civilian, BG Smith works as a Site Lead and Senior Principal Trainer for General Dynamics Information Technology and resides in Houston, TX with his wife, LaRachelle, who is currently Director of Marketing and Communications in the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences at Prairie View.
Carlton and LaRachelle met while attending a 1989 Labor Day Classic football game. While students, the two married and started their family. They have a son Major and two daughters, Andrea and Jocelyn. “Neither of us could have imagined then how far we would go from those days on ‘The Hill’,” expresses LaRachelle. “This is a proud moment for our family.”
Vice Admiral (Ret.) Dave Brewer
Vice Admiral David Brewer III is one of only 32 officers that hold the Navy’s second highest rank. He began his distinguished naval career May 17, 1970, when he was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy by former Secretary of the Navy, Senator John Chafee. Brewer was a member of the first graduating class of the Naval ROTC Unit at Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas, a historically black university.
Brewer, a 35-year veteran of the Navy commanded the Military Sealift Command from August 2001 until his retirement in March 2006, and served as Vice Chief of Naval Education and Training from 1999-2001. As Vice Chief of Naval Education and Training, he is known for helping to develop the Navy College Program and negotiating contracts with 11 colleges, universities and community colleges to provide bachelor and associate degree programs to more than 300,000 sailors.
David Brewer III was born to David L. Brewer, Jr., and Mildred S. Brewer in Farmville, Virginia. At age five, Brewer moved with his family from Farmville, Virginia to Florida, and he attended elementary and secondary schools in Orlando, Florida. Later, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Prairie View A&M University where he also was a member of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corp (NROTC). He later earned a Masters of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
Vice Adm. Brewer began his Navy career as a member of the first graduating class of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at a historically African-American university, Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas.
Early in his naval career, Vice Admiral Brewer demonstrated superior leadership skills and combat acumen. During his first ship command tour aboard the tank landing ship USS Bristol County (LST 1198), his crew won several awards, including the coveted Battle Efficiency “E” award as the most combat efficient ship in its class in the Pacific Fleet. He continued this trend of achievements during the command of his second ship, the Second Fleet Flagship, USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20). Mount Whitney earned the Combat Systems Award and best ship in its class for Community Service in the Atlantic Fleet.
Vice Admiral Brewer’s first assignment was as the Electronics Warfare Officer aboard the guided missile cruiser USS LITTLE ROCK (CLG 4). In his follow on tour with the Naval Recruiting District, Memphis, TN, he served as the Minority Recruiting Officer. He returned to sea to serve as the Combat Information Center Officer aboard the guided missile cruiser USS CALIFORNIA (CGN 36).
In 1988, he was hand-selected by Admiral C.A.H. Trost, Chief of Naval Operations, as his Special Assistant for Equal Opportunity. In this capacity, he was the advisor to the Navy’s top leadership, and the CNO’s personal representative at equal opportunity forums nationwide.
As Commander of Military Sealift Command, he is known for overseeing the massive Military Sealift Command (MSC) partnership with the private sector shipping contractors operation in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom which involved moving over 20 million square feet of equipment to the Persian Gulf in less than four months. He is also known for leading the Military Sealift Command’s disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.
David Brewer III is married to Richardene “Deanie” Brewer, Ed.D. Dr. Brewer is a graduate of Hampton University where she majored in English education. She also has a Master of Arts degree in curriculum and instruction from San Diego State University. Deanie received her Ed.D. in educational leadership from the University of West Florida in Pensacola. Dr. Brewer’s teaching career has spanned more than 20 years and has taken her from Virginia to San Diego and from England to Guam. She has taught at the middle school, high school and collegiate levels, earning several teacher excellence and academic awards.
His daughter, Stacey, graduated from Hampton University in 2002 as a distinguished scholar. She went on to receive her jurist doctorate degree from Pennsylvania State’s Dickinson School of Law in 2005.
Vice Admiral David Brewer’s personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (three awards), Meritorious Service Medal (two awards) and the Navy Achievement Medal. Brewer heads The David and Mildred Brewer Foundation, a family foundation that provides scholarships for African American students. It is named in honor of his mother, a retired school teacher, and his late father, who taught at Brewer’s high school for more than 33 years.
Rear Admiral (R) Osie V. Combs, Jr.
Rear Admiral Combs is Deputy Commander for Submarines, SEA 92, Naval Sea Systems Command. From November 1997 to July 1998, Rear Admiral Combs was Vice Commander, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, (SPAWARSYSCOM), San Diego. In this assignment, he was second in command and assists the commander in providing direction, development, acquisition and life cycle management of command, control, communication, computers and intelligence (C4ISR) and Information Technology for the 21st Century (IT21).
In his former duties as Chief Engineer Space and Warfare Systems Command (SPAWARSYSCOM), March 1996 to November 1997, he was responsible for the total platform integration of C4ISR and surveillance systems for the Navy, Marine Corps and selected joint programs. From March 1995 to March 1996, Rear Admiral Combs served as the Program Director for C4ISR Systems.
Prior to reporting to SPAWARSYSCOM, Rear Admiral Combs served as Program Manager for the SEAWOLF Attack Submarine Program from 1992 to 1995. There, he was responsible for the design, development and construction of the Navy’s most technologically advanced submarine. From 1985-1988, he served as Program Manager for the SEAWOLF’s Large Scale Vehicle (LSV), an autonomous submarine; from 1988-1990, he was the Assistant Program Manager for Design and Construction of the SEAWOLF; from 1990-1992 he served as Program Manager’s representative and Project Officer for construction of the lead SEAWOLF at Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair at Groton, Connecticut.
Rear Admiral Combs was the Assistant Project Officer for the construction of LOS ANGELES (SSN 688) class submarines at the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair in Newport News, Virginia, from 1981-1983. He was assigned to Norfolk Naval Shipyard from 1977-1981. At Norfolk, he served in several key positions including: Surface and Submarine Ship Superintendent, Surface and Submarine Ship Type Deck Officer and backup Docking Officer. During this tour, Rear Admiral Combs completed his qualifications in submarines (Engineering Duty).
Rear Admiral Combs has had three at sea assignments: Repair Officer onboard USS PROTEUS (AS-19) (1983-1985); Assistant Boilers Officer in USS CORAL SEA (CV-43) (1971-1974); and onboard USS WOODROW WILSON (SSBN 624) (Gold) (1980) for Engineering Duty Officer qualifications.
An alumnus of Texas City High School, in Texas, Rear Admiral Combs graduated from Prairie View A&M University in 1971 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. From 1974-1977, he attended graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Naval Engineer professional degree (Naval Architecture). He also attended the Program Manager’s Course at the Defense Systems Management College and the Program for Executives at Carnegie Mellon University.
Some of his more noted awards include Outstanding Senior Engineer, from Prairie View A&M and Oustanding Student Engineer of the Year from the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. In 1990, Rear Admiral Combs was nationally recognized as the Outstanding Engineer of the Year for Technical Excellence by Career Communications Group. He has been awarded the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with one gold star, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Navy Unit Commendation with two bronze stars, the Navy “E” Ribbon with second Battle “E”, the National Defense Service Medal with one bronze star, the Sea Service Ribbon, the Vietnam Service Medal with one bronze star, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Rear Admiral (R) Kelvin Dixon
Rear Admiral Kelvin Dixon, 1981, B.S. Mechanical Engineering: In 1991, Dixon participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as the operations officer for the United Nations Mission headquartered in Kuwait. He assisted in the establishment of checkpoints and managed the movement of all military and civilian personnel throughout Kuwait and Iraq. In 2003, 2008 and 2010 he was mobilized in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom responsible for protecting shipping in the Persian Gulf; chief of Biometrics, with responsibility for all aspects of identification and verification and Director, Iraqi Training, Advising, Operations Mission-Navy and Marine building the Iraqi Navy and Marines.