Military Leadership and First Responders

1925 - 2008

Charles Johnson Quander, Jr. was a Tuskegee Airman pilot assigned to the 816th Bomb Squadron and then to the 477th Bomb Group in Kentucky. He achieved the rank of Flight Officer with the 617th Bomb Squadron, and was assigned to a medium Bombardment Squadron of B-25 aircraft at Godman Field, Fort Knox, Kentucky. Although he was apparently not posted overseas, his unit stood ready to defend the homeland, if such became necessary.

1930 - 1969

Clarence C. Quander, Sr.

Graduate: Armstrong Technical School – 1948

Military Service: United States Army 1948 – 1958

Infantry Man: Fought in the Korean War 1950 - 1951

ROTC Instructor: West Virginia State College in Charleston, West Virginia 1953 - 1954

Trained in Field Artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1955

Stationed in West Germany 1956 - 1958

Achieved Rank of 1st Lieutenant (Up for Captain’s bars prior to leaving the service in 1958) 

 1932 -   

Leo A. Brooks Sr. is a retired major general formerly in the United States Army. Brooks was born August 9, 1932 in Alexandria, Virginia.

Beginning in 1950 Brooks attended Virginia State University where he was a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). Upon his graduation from Virginia State in 1954 with a Bachelor of Science degree, he was also commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps.

After receiving his commission, Brooks was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division then stationed in Alaska. Brooks’ first assignment was as a platoon leader.  Brooks served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War.  

Brooks quickly rose in the ranks of the peacetime post-Vietnam War U.S. Army. He was appointed Brigadier General in 1976.  In the late 1970s he was assigned as a budget liaison to the U.S. Congress for the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics in the Pentagon.  Brooks had other high-profile being assignments which included Deputy Secretary of the General Staff for the Army Material Command and member of J4, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  During his time in the service, Brooks also received a master degree in financial management from George Washington University.  Brooks received numerous awards while in the U.S. Army including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, and Army Commendation Medal

In 1984, Brooks retired from the U.S. Army at the rank of Major General.  

 1957 - 

 Leo A. Brooks, Jr. is a retired  U.S. Army Brigadier General. He was born on August 15, 1957 in Anchorage, Alaska. His father, Leo A. Brooks, Sr., was a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army; his mother, Naomi, was a schoolteacher. Brooks’ younger brother is Ret. General Vincent K. Brooks. After graduating from the all-male Jesuit High School in Sacramento, California in 1975, Brooks enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point and received his B.S. degree in engineering in 1979.

In 1980, Brooks began his military career as a rifle and anti-tank platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division, and then served as aide-de-camp to the Assistant Division Commander for Operations. From 1986 to 1988, Brooks was assigned to the 1st Battalion’s 75th Infantry Ranger Regiment with duty as a logistics officer and then as commander of A Company. He graduated with his M.A. degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma in 1990. He was then deployed to the Republic of Korea where he served as part of the Joint Staff of the Combined Forces Command as a ground operations officer. In 1992, Brooks completed the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

Brooks then reported to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in 1993 for duty with the 82nd Airborne Division where he was assigned as an executive officer in the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He then became deputy operations officer of the Division. After serving as aide-de-camp to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General Gordon R. Sullivan, Brooks was named commander of the 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and Chief of Operations for the XVIII Airborne Corps. He completed the U.S. Army War College in 1999 and then was deployed to Europe as Deputy Commanding General of the 1st Armored Division, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army in Germany. In 2002, Brooks was appointed Commandant of Cadets at the United States Military Academy and then served as a senior fellow in the Maxwell School of Government at Syracuse University. Brooks then served as Vice Director of Army Staff until retiring in 2006. He went on to become vice president of the National Security & Space Group for the Boeing Company in Washington, D.C.

Brooks served on the board of trustees of Norwich University; the board of directors of the District of Columbia College Access Program; and, the advisory board of directors of the Association of the United States Army. His military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with Two Oak Leaf Clusters, the National Defense Medal and Bronze Star, the War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Korea Defense Service Medal. 

1958  -   
Vincent K. Brooks is a retired United States Army General who commanded United States Forces Korea, United Nations Command and ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command. He previously served as commanding general of the United States Army Pacific and before that as the commanding general of Third Army.  In 1980, Vincent Brooks became the first African-American U.S. Military Academy cadet brigade commander or "First Captain."  

1973 -   

Mark C. Quander is commandant of  the U.S. Army Engineer School, U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  Col. Mark Quander, a Fayetteville, NC native, is the school’s 98th commandant, and was promoted to brigadier general in 2019.   Col. Mark Quander had been serving as commander and division engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Transatlantic Division in Winchester, Virginia, since May 2018. He previously served in Fort Bragg’s 20th Engineer Brigade and in the 82nd Airborne Division’s 307th Engineer Battalion.Col. Mark Quander received his commission from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1995, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He holds master’s degrees from the University of Missouri for Science and Technology in engineering management; from Georgetown University in public policy; and from the U.S. Army War College in strategic studies.Col. Mark Quander’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and Joint Service Commendation Medal. 

1974 - 2000

Kilonzo M. Masembwa was born on December 4, 1974, in Washington, D.C.  He attended St. Jerome's Elementary School and Archbishop John Carroll High School.  Kilonzo then entered Bowie State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in communications in 1995.  He joined the Prince George's County Police Department on December 6, 1999, as a member of Session 93.  Upon completion of his Academy training in June 2000, Kilonzo was assigned to District I, Squad 31.

On the morning of November 10, 2000, Ofc. Masembwa was dispatched to a possible breaking and entering in progress at Langley Park- McCormick Elementary School.  As he proceeded to the scene, Ofc. Masembwa lost control of his police vehicle on the wet pavement in the 7400 Block of New Hampshire Ave. Takoma Park, Maryland.  The police vehicle then left the roadway and struck a utility pole.  Ofc. Masembwa was fatally injured as a result of the single vehicle collision.

 Kilonzo served the Prince George's County Police Department for one year and was the 22nd member of the Agency to make the Ultimate Sacrifice.  He was the 39th law enforcement officer to give his life in the Line of Duty within Prince George's County.

Kilonzo was honored by the Fallen Heroes Memorial Project in 2019.