Celebrating Black History Month: J. Paul Reason, the first African-American four-star Admiral

John Paul Reason, born March 22, 1941 in Washington, D.C., is the first African-American officer in the US Navy to become a four-star admiral.  He was accepted into the Naval Academy Class of 1965 and was commissioned as an ensign in June of that year.

He attended the Naval Nuclear power training from March to September 1966, and was assigned to the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.  In November 1996, he was promoted to four-star admiral and assigned as Commander in Chief of the United States Atlantic Fleet until he retired in 1977.