Arthur Gregg
*Arthur Gregg was born on May 11, 1928. He was a Black laboratory technician and military officer. Arthur J. Gregg was born about 10 miles from Florence, South Carolina. He went to an elementary school near Florence. He attended high school in Newport News, Virginia, where he lived with his eldest brother and family.
After graduation from Huntington High School, Gregg briefly served in the US Merchant Marine (for only two weeks due to sea sickness). He studied at the Chicago College of Medical Technology to become a laboratory technician and open his clinic. The faculty told him that he would not be allowed to treat white patients during any of his schooling. Realizing this would impair his chances to succeed, he joined the Army to gain some medical experience. He was a 1964 graduate of Saint Benedict College in Atchison, Kansas, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration.
The Army allowed him to obtain this degree following his attendance at the Army Command and General Staff College in 1964. He was also a graduate of the Army War College (1968) and the Executive Program in National Security at Harvard University. Gregg was a career logistician assigned to Fort Lee many times. On July 1, 1977, became the first African American in the U.S. Army to reach the rank of lieutenant general. Previously, he was the first African American brigadier general in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps on October 1, 1972. He served in the U.S. Army for over 30 years, with his final assignment as the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff (Logistics) and retired on July 24, 1981.
In 2022, the United States Department of Defense announced that Fort Lee, outside of Petersburg, Virginia, would be renamed Fort Gregg–Adams to honor Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley. An important criterion in the redesignation process was selecting individuals whose career amplifies and correspond to the renamed installation. Fort Gregg-Adams is the center and home of logistics and sustainment for the U.S. Army. Gregg attended the April 27, 2023, renaming ceremony. Until his death, he was the only person in modern U.S. history to have an American military installation named in his honor. Arthur Gregg died on August 22, 2024, at 96.
