Major General Vincent Stewart, a past student of Kingston College (KC), has been promoted to lead the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). He is the first Black and first Marine to head the DIA.
He previously served as the commanding officer of the Marine Corps Cyber Command.
According to his official military biography, Stewart entered the Marine Corps in 1981. His previous positions include senior intelligence planner for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Director of Intelligence for Marine Corps Headquarters.
As espionage chief, Stewart will oversee the efforts of the DIA to provide military intelligence to combat units, defense planners and policymakers.
Stewart attended Rollington Town Primary and Kingston College and grew up in the once quiet neighborhood of Norman Gardens. He credits the early education he got at these schools for the success he is now enjoying.
He left Jamaica in 1971, during his second year at Kingston College. According to Stewart, “The education I got here put me in a good position when I went to America. I was well ahead of my classmates when they placed me in eighth grade."