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Tech. Sgt. Kevin Brown, 86th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron resource adviser and former president of the Kaiserslautern African-American Heritage Committee, reviews the monthly agenda. Brown was selected for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award for his community service.
Promoting human relations, equal opportunity and public service while being a role model for Department of Defense personnel are some things Ramstein’s recipient of the annual NAACP Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award attributes to his success; however, without the support of the community, his dream may never have become a reality.
In 2014, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People selected Tech. Sgt. Kevin Brown, 86th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron resource adviser. Brown worked to better his community as the former president of the African-American Heritage Committee in the Kaiserslautern area. Whether it was a Black History tour to Amsterdam or a Valentine’s Day seminar to teach communication tools for spouses, the committee had a wide vision to encourage positive action throughout communities in the area.
“We had an exceptionally productive year leading positive action in our community,” Brown said. “We launched and spearheaded programs, ranging from assisting wounded warriors to raising funds for high school seniors’ scholarship awards, all because these people and many others are dreamers.”
Brown said he was surprised to be recognized for his efforts during his time at Ramstein. He emphasized a desire for the award to be shared among the entire KMC during his 2013-2014 term.
“(The award) was just a byproduct of what we were already accomplishing,” Brown said. “I wish it was more of a group award. When I think about all of the things we were able to accomplish within a calendar year, it took the whole KMC community to pull those things off.”
Brown said he believes becoming president of the committee helped to put him in a position to see community projects come to fruition and listed some key events along with their coordinators.
“I started thinking about how the Kaiserslautern African-American Heritage Committee initiatives came to be, and I realized that they all started with a dream,” Brown said. “Not an African-American’s dream. An American’s dream. Hopefully, we are all familiar with some of the concepts of Dr. King’s dream. I believe that Dr. King’s dream cannot and will not fade.”
Master Sgt. Felix Morales, 86th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron NCO in charge of the commander support staff, said he values the message that the award sends to the unit.
“The fact that he was awarded shows that we, the Air Force as a whole, are on the right track,” Morales said. “Him being recognized for the things he does outside of his job in the community will encourage our Airmen to do the same.”
Morales described Brown as a quiet, but effective leader.
“He has a certain way of doing things around here, and he hasn’t let us down yet,” Morales said. “He is always trying to improve the morale of his Airmen by being very caring toward them.”
During his time as AAHC president, Brown said he made it a community-wide goal to “foster inclusiveness and champion diversity.” He said he believes the new leaders in place of the Kaiserslautern AAHC will continue to bring creative projects to the community and has no doubt in their ability to continue where he left off.
