BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN BRIGADIER GENERAL JOSEPH C. CARTER (retired) ADJUTANT GENERAL MASSACHUSETTS NATIONAL GUARD : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

Joseph C. Carter is a retired Brigadier General (BG) who was The Adjutant General (TAG) of the Massachusetts National Guard from 2007 - 2012. He is the former chief of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police. He currently lives in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts with his wife Rae, an Oak Bluffs School teacher, and his daughter Emily.

Joseph C. Carter began his career in law enforcement in 1974 working for the City of Boston Penal Institutions Department from 1975 through 1978. In 1978 he joined the Boston Police Department where his positions including patrol officer, detective, patrol supervisor, Deputy Superintendent, Superintendent, Chief of Staff of the department and Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, presiding over all departmental disciplinary trial boards. In 1998 he took the position of Chief of Police in his home town of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, and held the position for 5 years. From 2003 through 2007 he served as the head of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police, leaving the job in September 2007 to take the full-time Adjutant General's position in the state's National Guard.

• American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) Innovation in Government Award – the only law enforcement recipient.
• Webber-Seavey Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement (Semi-Finalist and thus one of the top 25 programs in the world), sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).
• Massachusetts Performance Recognition Award, which recognized three Transit Police Initiatives.
• Honored for his "outstanding leadership in law enforcement and his groundbreaking achievements in military service" by the Museum of African American History.

• Member of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Anti-Terrorism and Joint-Terrorism Task Force [ATTF/JTTF] (MA).
• Member of the Municipal Police Training Committee, the Urban Crime Strategies Subcommittee of the Governor’s Commission on Criminal Justice Innovation, and the Children’s Trust Fund.
• Member of the board of the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, Inc., and New England Chiefs of Police Association.
• 2005-2006 First Vice President, International Association of Chiefs of Police
• 2006-2007 President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
• 1998–present Board member emeritus of the African American Heritage Trail History Project of Martha's Vineyard.

Carter served in the United States Army Reserve and the National Guard from 1974 through 2012. In the Guard, he has held numerous positions including:

• Commander, Army National Guard Training Site at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Camp Edwards, Massachusetts
• Assistant Adjutant General for the Joint Force Headquarters for the Massachusetts Army and Air National Guard.

In August 2007 it was announced that he had been selected by Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick to succeed Brigadier General Oliver Mason and become the first African-American TAG in the 370-year history the state's Guard. He took over the position on September 21, 2007, but was officially sworn into the job on October 26, 2007 by Governor Patrick at a ceremony conducted at the Massachusetts State House. During the ceremony Carter received a 13 gun howitzer salute from the 101st Field Artillery Regiment, and was awarded the Legion of Merit. During his tenure as TAG he received a state (but not federal) promotion to Major General and Massachusetts has been twice recognized for excellence in Diversity and Equal Opportunity.