Prior to 2019, Vincent K. Brooks served as the four-star general in command of over 650,000 Koreans and Americans under arms. Brooks made history as the first African American to serve as the West Point cadet brigade commander or “First Captain” position, and he was the first cadet to lead the student body when women were in all four classes. He retired from active duty in January 2019. General Brooks is now Director of the Gary Sinise Foundation; a visiting Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; a Distinguished Fellow at the University of Texas, with both the Clements Center for National Security and the Strauss Center for International Security and Law; an Executive Fellow with the Institute for Defense and Business; and the President of VKB Solutions LLC.
He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1980. From there, he earned a Master of Military Art and Science from the School of Advanced Military Studies, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the New England School of Law in Boston.