{UAH} Myron B. Pitts: Former 71st Mukiga student makes military history with rise to general

By Myron B. Pitts

Posted Apr 4, 2020 at 4:02 PM

 

Brig. Gen. Mark Quander has his new rank pinned to his uniform by his wife, retired Lt. Col. Melonie Quander, left and his mother, Gail Quander of Fayetteville. He became the fourth general in his extended family. The promotion ceremony was held at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va., on Feb. 14. [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division Office of Public Affairs photo]▲

Brig. Gen. Mark C. Quander, second from left, was pinned on Feb. 14 at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia. He became the fourth general in his extended family. From left are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commanding general and 54th U.S. Army Chief of Engineers Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, who officiated; and the other three general officers from the Quander family: retired Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, retired Maj. Gen. Leo A. Brooks Sr., and retired Brig. Gen. Leo A. Brooks Jr. [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division Office of Public Affairs photo]▲

Brig. Gen. Mark Quander is part of an extended family that is the 'only African American family to produce four general officers in the U.S. military.'

Fayetteville resident Gail Quander considered her middle child, Mark, to be the least likely of her three boys to go into the military.

"Not at all; he was the least interested," she says.

When the Army family moved to the Fayetteville area, Mark "wanted his bedroom painted Carolina blue because he wanted to go to Carolina."

Instead, Mark, who attended Seventy-First High School, graduated from West Point Military Academy. And recently, this son of a lieutenant colonel made American military history.

In February, Mark Quander, 46, was pinned as a brigadier general at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia. Quander is the fourth general in his extended family. A news release by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says: "The extended Quander family is the only African American family to produce four general officers in the U.S. military. The other three general officers who encompass this history were also in attendance at the promotion ceremony ..."

They are retired Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, retired Maj. Gen. Leo A. Brooks Sr., and retired Brig. Gen. Leo A. Brooks Jr.

Leo Brooks Sr. is Mark Quander's uncle; Vincent Brooks, a four-star general, and Leo Brooks Jr. are his cousins.

"It was really nice," Gail Quander said about the ceremony, held on Feb. 14.

She said many people with whom Mark had served attended. Also there was Dr. Daniel Robie, who served with her late husband and Mark's father, Lt. Col. Francis Quander.

Mark credits Robie with influencing his shift from Carolina to the military, Gail Quander says. Mark's father wanted to make sure Mark was going to West Point because that's where his heart lay and not just to follow in his own footsteps, Gail says.

She says the location of the promotion ceremony had special meaning for Mark because he was born at the old Walter Reed hospital and spent his early years near the former Fort Myer Army post, surrounded by Quander relatives in northern Virginia and Maryland. Francis Quander is buried at nearby Arlington National Cemetery.

Fayetteville and Fort Bragg, where Mark's father was stationed, made an impression on the future general, too. He attended what was then Lewis Chapel Junior High School from seventh through ninth grades and Seventy-First for his 10th-grade year. Gail Quander says Gerald Patterson, then-principal at Seventy-First High School, was a positive influence on Mark. Mark would go on to graduate in northern Virginia, after Francis took a job at the Pentagon.

His faith a factor

Brig. Gen. Mark Quander serves as commandant of the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He does not just come from military stock; he is married to the military, too. His wife, Melonie, is a retired lieutenant colonel who originally hails from Southern Pines. Francis introduced them; they have one child, Grace, who is 14.

In 20 years of marriage, the couple have moved 14 times, according to the Army Corps of Engineers news release.

At the promotion ceremony, Mark Quander called himself the product of many influences, the release states.

"Mostly my faith, my family, and my friends with the latter two really only being differentiated by relation," Quander said. "My faith, which is strong and important for me, has given me strength and perseverance to endure the tough times but also grounded in the good ones. My family – both immediate and extended – have allowed me to serve my country in ways that have made this possible."

Gail Quander, who is 73, still finds herself amazed that her middle son, who she says was a "book nerd" and seemed anything but gung-ho about the military, would wind up going through ranger school, serving three combat deployments and, eventually, achieve a history-making appointment to general.

"You just don't see that side of your son," she says.

Allan

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