JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – To celebrate Black History Month, the Army Reserve partnered with television networks MTV and BET to produce two short videos focusing on an African-American officer.
Capt. Duval Tyson, commander of the Army Reserve’s 1st Mobilization Support Group headquartered at Fort Totten, N.Y., was featured in both videos, which aired on the networks throughout February.
“Looking at the different diversities and ethnicities we have in the military … it gives you a sense of purpose,” Tyson said. “I’m not only protecting my family, but my fellow countrymen (as well).”
Tyson, whose full-time civilian job is chief of the Regional Personnel Support Center for the Army Reserve’s 99th Regional Support Command headquartered here, answered an army casting call in December 2012 for African-American officers to participate in the TV spots.
The theme of this year’s Black History Month celebration is, “At the Crossroads of Freedom and Equality,” which celebrates both President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom 100 years later in continued support of ending segregation and other forms of discrimination.
“People who came before me, they paved the way for me to be able to do what I’m doing today,” said Tyson, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., who served in Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. “The Army’s made me a better person; it’s given me a sense of purpose.”