US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael Langley has been promoted to the rank of general in a ceremony Saturday, becoming the first Black four-star general in the military branch’s 246-year history.
Langley will lead the US Africa Command, which oversees America’s military presence in Africa, in a change of command ceremony at its Germany headquarters on Monday.
After the ceremony at Marine Barracks in Washington, DC, Langley said he was “humbled and honoured for the opportunity to take on the stewardship of command of AFRICOM” as a four-star general.
“But the milestone and what it means to the Corps is quite essential. Not just because the mark in history, but what it will affect going forward, especially for those younger across society that want to aspire and look at the Marine Corps as an opportunity,” he added.
In June, Langley was nominated by President Joe Biden for the promotion. The US Senate confirmed his promotion to four-star general by a voice vote earlier this week.
In his remarks, Langley paid homage to “those who have gone before,” recognising Frederick C. Branch, the first commissioned Black Marine, and the Montford Point Marines, the first African Americans to enlist in the Marines.
He also highlighted the importance of diversity in the military to “maintain a decisive advantage over our strategic competitors.”
The Marine Corps had refused to recruit African Americans and other minorities until a 1941 executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that “forced the Corps, despite objections from its leadership,” to start recruiting Black Marines the following year.
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Langley graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and has served with the Marine Corps since 1985.
Ahead of his AFRICOM deployment, Langley has led missions to countries such as Afghanistan and Japan in the the course of his career.
He most recently served as commander of the US Marine Corps Forces Command and Marine Forces Northern Command and as commanding general of Fleet Marine Force Atlantic.