FROM HAMPTON UNIVERSITY TO BRIGADIER GENERAL

FROM HAMPTON UNIVERSITY TO BRIGADIER GENERAL BY KEITH HARRISON

When Janeen Birckhead was still in high school on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and thinking about college, her mother issued a challenge: apply for a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship.

“There was never a question whether I was going to college. The question was how to pay for it. I thought to myself, yeah, mommy, the military. That’s not a great idea,” Birckhead said in a recent interview with HBCU Times. “But she knew I liked challenges.”

The then-high-achieving student at Worcester County’s Snow Hill High School, where she was an athletic majorette and cheerleader and volunteered for organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, applied. And, she won a four-year scholarship that she could use at any university where it was accepted and that had an ROTC program.

“Once I was selected for the scholarship,” she said, “it was hard to turn down such a great opportunity. I didn’t view it as a calling or a dream to join [ROTC]. All I wanted was something greater than myself and to serve my state and nation.”

She chose Hampton University in Virginia, an HBCU on the banks of the Hampton River, about a three-hour drive from her childhood home. Hampton turned out to be the launching pad of a career that has taken Birckhead to the highest levels of

military service. She is now Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, among the highest-ranking black women in the National Guard. She leads the Maryland Army National Guard, where the highlydecorated Birckhead is in charge of the state unit’s 4,500 Army soldiers. She took over the position in June 2019 and became part of a first in the nation—a state National Guard unit led by a command staff who are all women.

“Back then in high school, there was lots of discussion with my parents about what college I should attend,” Birckhead recalled. “One question was whether I should go to an HBCU. Well, I had an uncle who attended Hampton. I had a cousin there. My mom thought it would be a great experience for me to see lots of black people doing wonderful things.”

She finished Hampton in 1991—a semester early—as a distinguished military graduate with a B.A. in political science. Her choice to join the ROTC was all about the challenge from her mother. Her father had been in the Navy before she was born. And her mother had been an elected official in their home county. So, there wasn’t lots of family military background to help influence her decision.

Birckhead remembers her time at Hampton fondly. She met her husband, Craig Morton, there. She met her current best friend, Chena Younger, during her first-semester. She cites three faculty members in particular for helping to guide her during

BIRCKHEAD her matriculation: Mamie Locke, a political science professor, retired Lt. Col. Claude Vann III, who was an assistant professor of military science, and Maj. Eric Handy in Hampton’s ROTC program. Younger recalls the two meeting as first-year students living in the Virginia-Cleveland dormitory when Birckhead needed assistance getting her car to a repair shop. “We just had a connection,” Younger said. “You kind of know when you meet someone. Our friendship just blossomed from there.” Younger, who grew up in Hampton, introduced Birckhead to local spots, including the famous Smitty’s Better Burger. She invited Birckhead to stay at her parents’ home so often that Birckhead eventually had her own key to the house. By the time they were preparing to graduate, Younger said, she knew big things were in her best friend’s future. “I could just sense it,” Younger remembered. “I wondered where she was going. She always had a lot of drive and ambition. She had great high school experiences. She had a job waiting for her on Capitol Hill the semester before we were scheduled to graduate. She always was very organized and always had a game plan.” Vann said Birckhead was “one of my stars” in ROTC at Hampton. “There are always people in life, ROTC included, who will throw stumbling blocks in your way,” Vann said “I watched her masterfully avoid those stumbling blocks. Never saw her get down. She maintained the same disposition. She is one of those people who never gives up.” Still, Vann said, he was a bit surprised that Birckhead has been

promoted to the highest levels—and he has been present for many of her promotion ceremonies. “She stood out while she was at Hampton,” he said, “but she really blossomed after she left us.”

Birckhead gives much credit for providing her with a strong foundation to Vann, other Hampton faculty and her ROTC colleagues at the school.

“It was like a family,” she said.

In fact, when Birckhead was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, Vann sent her care packages that included, he recalled, her special request of tea.

“She is like family,” he said, echoing a common theme among those with ties to Hampton.

Birckhead believes attending an HBCU is an option that students should consider. “Don’t get caught up in just going to an HBCU. Make sure that they have the academic program that interests you. The social fabric at HBCUs is top notch,” she said. “There is a lot to be said for that. But there is more. The breadth and depth of diversity cannot be beaten. The kinds of discussions you have in classes. The varying backgrounds of the students makes for a rich experience.”

When she graduated from Hampton with a commission as a second lieutenant, Birckhead opted for an appointment in the reserves because she had a job waiting for her in the offices of Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.). Her current full-time job is as a senior advisor in the U.S. Interior Department, a job she continues even while leading the Maryland Army National Guard.

“It keeps me really busy,” she said.