Leo Austin Brooks Jr. (born August 15, 1957) is a retired brigadier general of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. The Brooks family is noted for its military accolades and public service, as his brother is Army General

Vincent K. Brooks Vincent Keith Brooks (born 24 October 1958) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who last commanded United States Forces Korea, United Nations Command, and ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command. He previously served as the ...

, and their father Leo A. Brooks Sr. was a major general in the United States Army. His uncle, Francis K. Brooks, was the majority leader of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

and a member of the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator repre ...

Education

Brooks attended

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

's Jesuit High School in 1975. He then graduated from the

United States Military Academy at West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as commissioned officers in the United States Army. The academy was founded ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in 1979 and later earned a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

degree from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

in 1990. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Maxwell School of Government at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

as well as a Trustee at

Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...

Decorations and awards

Brooks' awards and decorations include the

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

with two

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purple ...

, Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters,

Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issu ...

, Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and Multinational Force and Observers Medal. He is authorized to wear the Expert Infantryman Badge, Ranger Tab, Master Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge and

Air Assault Badge The Air Assault Badge, U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry, dated 18 January 1978, last accessed 16 October 2020 is awarded by the U.S. Army for successful completion of the United States Army Air Assault School, Air Assault School. The course includes ...

Quotes

* "Building a moral and ethical environment is what you have to do to create character in your work world. You have to create leadership that will become trustworthy

References

External links

INTERVIEW: General Leo Brooks, West Point Commandant

Operation Racial Preferences

Leadership Today

Army Salutes Its Black Veterans
1958 births African-American United States Army personnel United States Army generals Living people United States Military Academy alumni Commandants of the Corps of Cadets of the United States Military Academy Recipients of the Legion of Merit Military personnel from Anchorage, Alaska Military personnel from Sacramento, California Military personnel from Alexandria, Virginia 21st-century African-American military personnel 20th-century African-American military personnel Military personnel from California Jesuit High School (Carmichael) alumni {{US-army-bio-stub