FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Thursday, February 22, 2024
Contact: Tammy Martin
Office: 984-292-3255
Cell: 984-480-6256 tammy.martin@milvets.nc.gov
ROTC Cadets Learn Valuable Life Lessons from African American
Military Leaders at NC ROTC Roundtable
Raleigh, NC - More than 100 ROTC cadets from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), public and private universities, and JROTC from high schools across North Carolina learned some valuable life lessons from African American military leaders at an event in Durham.
The cadets gathered along with the Bull City Cadet Battalion and schools from areas around the state at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) as part of the 4th Annual North Carolina ROTC Roundtable and the African American Military and Veterans Lineage Day.
The distinguished panelists at the ROTC Roundtable included:
- LtGen Walter E. Gaskin, USMC, (Ret),
NC DMVA Secretary - General Michael X. Garrett, US Army, (Ret.)
- Brigadier General, Antoinette R. Gant
Chief, Army Enterprise Marketing Office - Brigadier General Amada I. Azubuike
Deputy Commanding General US Army Cadet Command - Brigadier General Voris W. McBurnette
100th Training Division (Leader Development) - Brigadier General, Arnold Gordon-Bray, US Army, (Ret.)
- Sergeant Major Kenyatta J. Gaskins
Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs - Command Sergeant Major Joe E. Johnson
Senior Enlisted Advisor, United States Army Operational Test Command
The NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (NC DMVA), the Division of Archives and the NC Department Natural and Cultural Resources, North Carolina Central University, and the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) partnered to teach, coach, and mentor cadets about the important contributions Black military women and men made throughout history, to show how they continue to lead, and serve in the US Armed Forces.
Panelists and Cadets discussed North Carolina’s trailblazers and other national pioneering African American service members who broke the color barrier and the glass ceiling, rising high within all branches of the Armed Forces. These American heroes paved the way for African Americans who now serve in some of the highest and most prestigious offices within our Armed Forces. Every battle, those declared and undeclared in US history, from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWI and II, Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan, Black men and women have honorably answered the call to duty, serving with great valor and distinction in America's Armed Forces.
The roundtable participants each offered the cadets a glimpse at their own challenges in their careers because of their race and backgrounds, their motivations, and successes, and they imparted great wisdom and inspiration.
"Black Americans have played a vital role in every war in our nation's history,” said LtGen Walter E. Gaskin, USMC (Ret.), Secretary of the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “This Roundtable emphasizes their courage, sacrifices, contributions and the lasting impact they continue to have on our Armed Forces."
The NC DMVA presented NCCU and the Bull City Battalion with a framed Proclamation from North Carolina Governor Cooper marking February 22nd as North Carolina African American Military and Veterans Lineage Day which recognizes the service and sacrifice of the African American military service members gave to our country.
Schools in attendance:
North Carolina Central University
Duke University
UNC-Chapel Hill
Fayetteville State University
St. Augustine’s University
Wake Forest High School
Goldsboro High School
Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBf98K
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