A special occasion of connection for army veterans who’re additionally members of the worldwide fraternal service group, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Integrated. Leaders of the fraternity’s Midwest area held their annual army breakfast in Indianapolis, Indiana, recognizing veterans throughout 12 states and Canada, who’re additionally members of the fraternity, for his or her service to the nation.
“This 12 months’s breakfast was an amazing success, marked by highly effective storytelling, recognition of accomplishments, and worthwhile data sharing,” stated retired Col. Harold V. Anderson, chair of the fraternity’s Midwestern Area Navy Veterans Affairs committee, in a press release launched to Navy.com. “We introduced collectively brothers and neighborhood members to rejoice army excellence and shared dedication to service.”
An annual occasion for the previous 5 years, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Integrated Midwestern Area Navy Affairs Breakfast was held Friday, April 17, 2026, on the Indianapolis JW Marriott Lodge. It’s been a staple of the group’s regional convention, drawing tons of of members of the fraternity for skilled networking, multi-generational fellowship and to conduct essential fraternity enterprise.
For a lot of, the army breakfast was a spotlight of the week-long convention.
“Our army breakfast serves a number of functions. Attendees gained a deeper understanding of army recruitment efforts,” stated Col. Anderson in his assertion to Navy.com. “We spotlight the important contributions of fraternity members in uniform, and reinforce the significance of army service to our nation, states, and native communities.”
Honorees Acknowledged As Neighborhood Servants
This 12 months’s program centered on three distinguished honorees, who’re members of the fraternity and adorned members of the army:
Robert “Bob” Raby, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha since 1954 and a veteran who served within the U.S. Army within the Nineteen Sixties, was acknowledged for each his army service and neighborhood affect. Raby is affectionately generally known as the “Flower Man” amongst his neighbors in Indianapolis, the place he has spent a long time sharing crops with neighbors, encouraging neighborhood progress and unity.
Lieutenant-Commander Alex Ok. Wooden, a public affairs officer of the Royal Canadian Navy and member of the fraternity, shared how his service and connection to the fraternity adopted within the footsteps of one other Alpha member, Dr. Ok.M.B. Simon, who served within the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1915. Lt. Commander Wooden’s presentation additional emphasised the fraternity’s worldwide army legacy.
Colonel Ellis Gales, Jr. is a U.S. Army officer serving with the Army’s Recruiting Command Public Affairs Workplace. He supplied insights into the Army’s current success in assembly recruiting targets, whereas outlining key initiatives designed to assist potential troopers in assembly tutorial and bodily health requirements.
“Annually, we depart this gathering higher knowledgeable and higher ready to serve,” stated Col. Anderson. “The data and inspiration shared instantly advantages the communities and younger folks we assist.”
Worldwide Fraternity Celebrates Navy Ties
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is the nation’s first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American males. Based on December 4, 1906, at Cornell College in Ithaca, New York, it was created by seven faculty males generally known as the “Jewels.”
“Our army breakfast honors the legacy of service embedded within the fraternity’s historical past, stated Col. Anderson. “Notably, two of the fraternity’s founding ‘Jewels’ had been army veterans, underscoring a long-standing custom of management and patriotism.”
In response to an official fraternity biography reviewed by Navy.com, Jewel Vertner Woodson Tandy had important army achievements, together with changing into the primary African American to cross the army commissioning examination and serving as a primary lieutenant within the fifteenth Infantry of the New York State Nationwide Guard.
Moreover, Jewel George Biddle Kelley attended the Troy Navy Academy, a army preparatory college in New York and was the son of Richard Kelley, a veteran of the Civil Conflict from Massachusetts.
