Hazel W Johnson Brown

First African American Chief of the Army Nurse Corps (1927 to Present) Named as the first African American Brigadier General of the Army Nurse Corps in 1979, Hazel W. Johnson Brown apparently reached the most honorable rank when she was appointed as the chief of the ANC. She then commanded 7,000 men and women in the Army National Guard and Army Reserves, and overseeing numerous medical centers, free standing clinics, and community hospitals in Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Panama, and the United States. Brig. Gen. Hazel W. Johnson Browns military success started with apparent prejudice, when she was rejected of enrollment at the West Chester School of Nursing. This was the obstacle that she wanted to overcome. Hence, she went off for New York City in 1947, and was admitted in the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing. Her first professional work was at the Philadelphia Veterans Hospital, but enlisted into the Army Nurse Corps in 1955 with the encouragement of colleagues. Hazel swiftly rose from the ranks, accumulating impressive credentials from different positions she held, and finally got to the pinnacle of her career as Chief of ANC, with the rank of Brigadier General.