Eight African-American military leaders were honored at the U.S. Navy-hosted annual “Stars and Stripes” awards program in recognition of their contributions to the military and to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, the Defense Department reported Monday.
Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Bill Moran delivered the keynote speech during the dinner and awards program held Friday in Philadelphia as part of the 30th Black Engineer of the Year Award STEM conference.
C. Todd Lopez writes approximately 140Â senior STEM professionals and active and retired service personnel also mentored over 300 students at the event.
The awardees are:
- Navy Capt. Mark Glover, program manager for Navy communications and global positioning system
- Navy Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer April Beldo at the office of the chief of naval operations.
- Navy senior executive Jimmy Smith, director of integrated nuclear weapons safety and security, strategic systems programs
- Army Brig. Gen. Carl Alex, assistant deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Army Forces Command
- Air Force Lt. Col. Keithen Washington, assistant director for officer commissioning programs at the office of the defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness
- Marine Corps Lt. Col. David Everly, junior military assistant to the defense secretary
- Coast Guard Capt. Jason Merriweather, chief of the office of military personnel
- Air Force Brig. Gen. Leonard Isabelle, commander of the Michigan Air National Guard
