BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : BRIGADIER GENERAL ELTON LEWIS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS"

ST. CROIX - More than 100 friends, colleagues, family members and other Virgin Islanders crowded into Government House in Christiansted on Wednesday morning to witness Col. Elton Lewis' promotion to the rank of brigadier general.
Lewis has served as the assistant adjutant general of the V.I. National Guard and has worked as the director of the Joint Force Headquarters since 2007.
Gov. John deJongh Jr. has nominated Lewis to be director of the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency.
Lewis also served as police commissioner from March 2003 to January 2007 as part of Gov. Charles Turnbull's administration.
Lewis was born in Frederiksted and joined the V.I. National Guard's 661st Military Police Company in 1976 as an enlisted soldier.
V.I. Adjutant Gen. Renaldo Rivera, Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis and deJongh were among speakers and well-wishers at the ceremony.
Lewis said he was tremendously honored and humbled at the ceremony.
"It has been a long road, 32 years of it, and I enjoyed every bit of it," Lewis said. "That's what I always wanted to do, and I enjoyed the opportunity to move through the ranks."
When he walked in the door of Government House Wednesday morning, Elton Lewis was a colonel in the V.I. National Guard. By the time the hour-long ceremony was over, he was a general.
Brig. Gen. Elton Lewis was pinned with the insignia of his new rank during a ceremony that included words of praise from Gov. Jon P. deJongh Jr., Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis and Maj. Gen. Renaldo Rivera, and watched over by more an audience of more than 100, the vast majority of which was in uniform.
The only thing shining brighter than the well-polished shoes of the many soldiers on hand were their smiles, as they watched Lewis' wife, Janice, and Rivera pin the single star on his collar and the epaulets on his shoulders.

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Rivera said it was a special day for the entire V.I. National Guard, the first time it has ever had two federally recognized generals. The message should not be lost on younger members looking to the future, he said.
"Your opportunity is here," he said. "It's right there waiting for you."
Born in Frederiksted, Lewis graduated from St. Croix Central High School in 1971 and joined the Guard in September 1976 as an enlisted soldier. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Military Police Corps in 1985 and has held a wide variety of positions serving the territory and the United States.
He has worked as a police officer, rising through the ranks to commissioner of the VIPD and is now director-designee for the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency.
In VING, Lewis recently served as the director of Joint Staff since 2007 and is now assistant adjutant of the Guard, a position he was appointed to on May 1, 2005. As a federal technician employee, he has been director of the V.I. National Guard's Joint Force Headquarters from August 2007 to December 2010.
One of his favorite quotes, from 20th-century evangelist Billy Sunday, is "More men fail through lack of purpose than through lack of talent."
His awards and decorations from more than 30 years of military service include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon and the Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon.