Courtesy of Claflin University
Ret. Brigadier General Twanda E.Young was honored for her historic accomplishments and her outstanding leadership and service to her country as an officer and woman in the United States Army at the unveiling of the Veteran Women Monument on the campus of Claflin University.
Young is a 1989 graduate of Claflin University. She was the first woman commissioned from the ROTC cross-enrollment program at South Carolina State’s Bulldog Battalion to earn the rank of Brigadier General. Young’s stellar military career led to her being a Class of 2018 inductee into the Claflin University Hall of Fame.
The Veteran Women Monument is the first at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU).The monument is a tribute to the Leal and Loyal Claflin alumnae who served in the U.S military. It is erected near the James and Dorothy Z. Elmore Chapel and shares an area with Claflin’s Veterans Monument, which includes the names of military veterans who attended or were employees at Claflin University. The Veterans Monument was dedicated in 2017.
Young has served in command and staff positions in the continental United States and Hawaii with First Army, Joint Forces Command, U.S. Army Reserve Command, and in Afghanistan with NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (NTM-A/CSTC-A). Among her other key assignments were G1, U.S. Army Reserve Command; Commander, Theater Support Group-Pacific; Army Reserve Warrior Transition Liaison Program Manager; CJ1, Chief Strategic Initiatives (Kabul, Afghanistan); and Executive Training Officer, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Division.
Young presently serves in the Executive-in-Residence program at Bowie State University. The program encourages exceptional leaders to support students and the mission of the university.
The cross-enrollment program at S.C. State was initiated in 1968 to permit students from other local institutions, without an ROTC program, to receive training at South Carolina State University and remain at the institution of their choice.
During academic year 1972-1973, the Department of the Army initiated, on a trial basis, a five-year program of enrolling women in ROTC. South Carolina State University was one of ten institutions selected nationwide to participate in this program. The first women graduated in 1976.
