Manson K. Brown on track to become first Black Commandant of the Coast Guard.

A native of Washington, D.C., and currently Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Maintenance & Logistics Command Pacific, Alameda, california, Admiral Brown has been named one of the Top Blacks in the Military by U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine.

Admiral Manson K. Brown, who will be featured in the magazine's upcoming Homeland Security, Government and Defense, Winter edition, received a Stars & Stripes Coast Guard Award, presented during the Third Annual Stars & Stripes Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baltimore on Feb. 17.

He was also invited to attend the 22nd National Black Engineer of the Year Award Science (BEYA), Technology, Engineering and Math Global Competitiveness Conference, also held at the Hyatt the week before. The BEYA Awards ceremonies recognize the achievement of African-American leaders.



A 1978 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, Brown holds a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a master's degree in National Resources Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is a registered professional civil engineer.

The admiral assumed command of MLC Pacific in June 2006. His previous commands include Coast Guard Sector Honolulu and Coast Guard Group Charleston, S.C. He is slated to assume command of the 14th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Honolulu, in the summer.

In previous tours of duty, Brown served as Assistant Engineering Officer aboard the Coast Guard cutter Glacier, home ported in Portland, Ore.; Project Engineer at Civil Engineering Unit Miami; Deputy Group Commander at Coast Guard Group Mayport, Fla.; Engineering Assignment Officer in the Officer Personnel Division at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, D.C.; Facilities Engineer at Support Center Alameda here; and Assistant Chief, Civil Engineering Division at Maintenance & Logistics Command Pacific here.

From 1999 to 2002, he served as the Military Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, including duty as the Acting Deputy Chief of Staff for six months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. In May 2003, he served as the Chief of Officer Personnel Management at the Coast Guard Personnel Command. From April to July 2004, he was temporarily assigned as the Senior Advisor for Transportation to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq. Working in a combat zone, he oversaw restoration of Iraq's major transportation systems, including two major ports.

Brown's military decorations include the U.S. Transportation Secretary's Gold Medal, Legion of Merit, four Meritorious Service Medals, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, and the Transportation 9-11 Medal, three Coast Guard Achievement Medals, the Iraq Campaign Medal and several other personal and unit awards. In 1994, Rear Admiral Brown was honored as the first recipient of the Coast Guard's Captain John G. Witherspoon Award for Inspirational Leadership.

After the ceremony and the general reception, I was fortunate to get an opportunity to meet and to spend some time with a retired Navy admiral, Rear Admiral Robert L. Toney, U.S. Navy (Ret). Admiral Toney is one of a few African-Americans to be promoted to the rank of admiral in the U S Navy.

Admiral Toney's experience in the Navy featured leadership and management positions afloat and ashore, including Naval Base Commander in San Francisco, where he managed more than 60,000 people from Monterey to the Northern California border, with a payroll of $2.6 billion.

Admiral Toney was born on August 30, 1934 in Monroe, Louisiana and moved to Oakland at the age of eight. He attended Youngstown State University (Ohio) from 1962 and 1954, and graduated from California State University, Chico in 1957 with a bachelor of arts degree. He was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Navy Reserve on October 31, 1957. He completed NATO Defense College in Rome in 1977 and the National and International Security Course at Harvard in 1990.

Admiral Toney has served on the board of directors of The United Way, World Affairs Council, Commonwealth Club, Volunteers of America, and the Oakland Boys and Girls Club.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters from National Defense University in October 1988, and from Golden Gate University in June 1994.
The recipient of many awards and decorations for meritorious service during his years in the Navy, Toney has two daughters and one son. He currently resides in Oakland.