Fort Gregg-Adams mourns the loss of its namesake and inspirational leader of the sustainability movement | Article

FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. – Fort Gregg-Adams and the Army sustainment communities mourn the loss of an inspirational leader for whom the installation was named just over a year ago.

Retired Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg died Thursday at the age of 96. The garrison was named after Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams in a ceremony on April 27, 2023.

“The entire Fort Gregg-Adams family is deeply saddened by the loss of a great American and our namesake,” said Maj. Gen. Michelle Donahue, commanding general of Fort Gregg-Adams and the Combined Arms Support Command. “Lt. Gen. Gregg will continue to inspire all who knew him and those who serve at Fort Gregg-Adams now and in the future. His dedication and leadership will never be forgotten. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Gregg continued to participate in events at the facility until his death and attended the garrison's final change of command ceremony on July 31 at the Gregg-Adams Club.

“LTG Gregg's love and commitment to this facility and this community will forever be part of our identity – part of our character,” said Col. Richard Bendelewski, garrison commander. “We will proudly carry on his legacy as Fort Gregg-Adams.”

When Gregg was promoted on October 1, 1972, he became the first African-American brigadier general in the U.S. Army's Quartermaster Corps. On July 1, 1977, he became the Army's first African-American lieutenant general.

He served in the U.S. Army for over 30 years, most recently as the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff (Logistics), and retired on July 24, 1981.

Frustrated by racial segregation and inspired by the service of black soldiers in World War II, the 17-year-old Arthur J. Gregg joined the U.S. Army in 1946 and was soon deployed to support supply operations in occupied Germany.

While helping the Army rebuild the devastated region, Gregg did an outstanding job and saw his rise in the region, according to the Fort Gregg-Adams website. He attended Officer Candidate School in 1949, a year after President Truman ordered the desegregation of the armed forces. As a result, it fell to soldiers and officers like Gregg to put that policy into practice by changing the culture in their commands and desegregating the Army from the ground up.

Gregg did this with great skill, leading by example, and from the moment he graduated OCS embarked on a distinguished career, beginning with his first assignment as an officer at Camp Lee in 1950, renamed Fort Lee later that same year. He later led a supply depot in Japan and commanded a supply and support battalion in Vietnam.

Gregg told Fort Gregg-Adams writer T. Anthony Bell that of his many professional accomplishments, he was most proud of his service in Vietnam, where, as a newly promoted lieutenant colonel, he commanded the 96th Quartermaster Direct Support Battalion.

“It was a great assignment and I felt like we were doing great work for the United States of America and for the world,” Gregg said in the 2023 story.

When Gregg took command in late 1965, the battalion was short of personnel and equipment and was not yet operational. Through a lot of work, the battalion was operational within a few months, able to deploy on time and carry out its mission accordingly.

“We became a battalion with 18 companies, eight detachments, 3,600 officers and soldiers,” he said, noting earlier that the unit had received several more elements. “It was four times the size of a normal battalion, and I tell you, those young guys worked their asses off to build a logistical base and provide logistical support to our forces in Vietnam. I was so proud of them.”

Gregg's success in Vietnam opened up further opportunities for advancement and eventually led him to the Army War College, a qualification for promotion to general.

“I have taken on great responsibilities, but for me, commanding that battalion in Vietnam remains the most significant point of my career,” he said.

He also served several tours in Germany during the Cold War and headed the Army and Air Force Exchange System. At the peak of his career, Gregg served as Director of Logistics for the Joint Staff and then as Deputy Chief of Staff for Army Logistics.

In addition to his extensive service around the world, Gregg was also a champion of equality and excellence at home. As a young officer at Fort Lee in the early 1950s, he experienced firsthand—and never forgot—the challenges of desegregating the base's facilities.

He later became the first black officer to be promoted to general in the Quartermaster Corps of the US Army and was the highest-ranking black officer in the US military when he retired in 1981.

A week before the rededication ceremony, Gregg attended the rechristening of the Gregg Adams Club, which was still exclusively reserved for white officers even after he was appointed and took office in 1950.

Throughout his career, Gregg mentored numerous younger soldiers, and when the Army established an award for innovation and excellence in logistics in 2016, its namesake – and first recipient – ​​was Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg.

At the rededication ceremony, Gregg said he hoped the name change could serve as inspiration.

“I hope this community looks upon the name 'Fort Gregg-Adams' with pride and that the name instills pride in every soldier who enters our mighty gates,” he said.