A standard, and the people who keep it.
Post 809 carries the name of General Colin L. Powell, and the way he served: disciplined, unhurried, close enough to hear the problem. This is who we are, and who we are for.
The measure of a life of service.
From a block in the South Bronx to the highest posts a soldier can hold. He never forgot where he started.
Raised in the South Bronx on Kelly Street, the son of Jamaican immigrants, on a block of Jamaicans, African Americans, and Puerto Ricans.
Earned his commission as a second lieutenant through ROTC at the City College of New York.
Served two tours, was wounded in action, and was decorated for valor for pulling fellow soldiers from a burning helicopter.
Rose to advise the President on the nation's security, the trusted judgment in the room.
The first Black officer, and the youngest, to hold the highest military post in the country. Led U.S. forces through the Gulf War.
The 65th Secretary of State, and the first African American to serve in the office.
He passed at 84, remembered for a standard of service this post now carries in his name.
Why his name belongs in Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rican community was part of the block that raised him. A post that carries his name here is not a coincidence. It closes a circle: the neighbors who were there at the beginning now keep the watch that bears his name.
Powell believed leadership meant staying close enough to hear the problem, and that optimism is a force multiplier. That is the tone of this post. Not ceremony for its own sake. Ceremony that means something, and a hand that is actually there when a veteran needs it.
FOUNDING COMMANDER
Brian Scott Smith
An Army Ranger and retired Army officer who came up the hard way and stayed in service after the uniform came off. He studied at Virginia State University and Columbia, and he works today as a clinical social worker.
That last part matters. When this post says Be The One, it is not borrowing a slogan. Its commander spends his days helping people through their worst moments. Suicide prevention is the reason he founded a post, not a poster on the wall.
The officers who stand with him.
A post is a team. The adjutant, the finance officer, the service officer, the chaplain, the sergeant-at-arms.
The post's officers will be introduced here with their names, roles, and the eras they served, as the roster is confirmed. Every generation on the roll has a seat at this table.