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Overcoming the odds: Command Sergeant leads the way on and off the battlefield

Dwight Brown
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"I did it 32 years, and if I was younger, I'd do it over again, all over again," says Ret. U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major Dwight Brown.
 
He served in every U.S. combat operation since Desert Storm until his retirement in 2004 from MacDill Airforce Base. He's paved the way for others despite challenges over the years abroad and even on the home front.

Command Sergeant leads the way on and off the battlefield

Originally from Lexington, Kentucky, Brown joined the Army at 19. He said his commitment to service and giving back to the nation is rooted deep in his family bloodline.

"To who much is given, much is required. And we believe that," Brown said.

An unwavering commitment during a time when the feelings weren't so mutual by many in this country for men and women who looked like him.
 
"I did not see a lot of people of high rank that looked like me. And because of the climate of the military at that time, I came in the military in '73, it was right after Vietnam, or the ending of Vietnam. And as you well know, the racial tensions and integration was in its prime during that time, and those attitudes were in the military also," Brown said.

Historically, the U.S. military had been heavily segregated, with African Americans serving in separate units and facing systemic discrimination. However, over the decades, a journey of change and progress unfolded leading to the integration of African-Americans into the highest enlisted ranks, like Command Sgt. Major. Dwight Brown.

Brown said, "I embraced the trail that I was placed on, and I tried to add to those Trailblazers that made a way for me. "

That includes mentoring those rising in the ranks.

"I sought opportunities to find qualified, deserving females and minorities to give them opportunities that they may not have normally gotten," he explained.

That passion for seeing others succeed didn't stop when Brown retired 20 years ago either. It continues today in the courtroom.

Brown serves as a mentor with the Tampa Veterans Treatment Court, helping service members who have found themselves in the court system for things related to traumas and experiences from serving the Country.

"Jail is not the answer. We can't allow the behaviors that they have to exist, but we have to address it in a manner other than punishment. Let's get them fixed. Let's be transformable in their lives so that they can come back productive citizens and make a difference, give back to the nation, rather than taking away from it," said Brown.

It's a lifeline now offered in every state, mirrored by the word done right here in Tampa Bay by Brown and other change makers.

"I would hope to be that every place I was assigned, every job I had, it was a better place when I left, because I was there," Brown said.


For Black History Month, ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska sat down with two Black photographers. Both use their images to inspire and educate.

Behind the Lens of ‘Black Excellence’: The journey of two photographers