Erroll Mingo Brown is a retired

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

. Brown was the first African-American promoted to

flag rank A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

in the Coast Guard.

Education

After graduating from Dixie M. Hollins High School in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, in 1968, Brown enrolled in the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In 1972, Brown graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, majoring in

Marine Engineering Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circ ...

. He also earned a master's degree in naval architect and marine engineering and a second master's in industrial and operations engineering at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. In 1986, Brown received the Master of Business Administration degree from the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

. He then received a master's degree in national security and strategic studies when he graduated from the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...

in 1994.

Service years

Brown served in ships including the Coast Guard icebreaker ''

Burton Island USS ''Burton Island'' (AG-88) was a United States Navy Wind-class icebreaker that was later recommissioned in the United States Coast Guard as the USCGC ''Burton Island'' (WAGB-283). She was named after an island near the coast of Delaware. Con ...

'' (WAGB-283), Cutter '' Jarvis'' (WHEC-725), and Cutter '' Rush'' (WHEC-723). He has held positions on board ships including damage control assistant, assistant engineer officer, and maintenance type deck officer. He has also served in the Small Boat Branch as the supervisor for two inspection officers instructors in the Marine Engineering Department at the U. S. Coast Guard Academy, and served as executive officer. He has been a program reviewer in the Office of the Chief of Staff, Programs Division in Coast Guard Headquarters, and has served as the military assistant to the Secretary of Transportation. He was also assigned as chief of the Budget Division in the Office of the Chief of Staff in Coast Guard Headquarters. In 1998, Brown was promoted to rear admiral. Recently, he was the commanding officer of the USCG Integrated Support Command in Portsmouth, VA. Before he retired, he was the Commander of the Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia. He retired after 33 years of service. He currently serves as the program evaluator for the

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ABET (pronounced A-bet), formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., is a non-governmental accreditation organization for post-secondary programs in engineering, engineering technology, computing, and appli ...

. He coauthored with Harry Benford of the

a book entitled ''Ship Replacement and Prediction of Economic Life''. He presented this to the 25th Annual Colloquium of Shipbuilders in

Hamburg, Germany Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Erroll M. 1950 births Living people African-American United States Coast Guard personnel Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Coast Guard Academy alumni United States Coast Guard admirals People from St. Petersburg, Florida Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Naval War College alumni 21st-century African-American military personnel 20th-century African-American military personnel