Lt. Col. Bobby J. Brown of Demopolis was promoted to the rank of colonel on Sept. 17 by Brig. Gen. Robert S. Ferrell. Brown is the son of the late Isreal Brown Sr.

Attending the ceremony were his mother, Mary A. Brown; his sisters, Alice Marie Johnson of Demopolis and Linda Anderson of Augusta, Ga.; and his best friends, Winston Wheeler of Atlanta, Ga., and Kenneth Wingfield of Phoenix, Ariz.

Brown is a 1982 graduate of John Essex High School. He completed his undergraduate degree at Alabama State University in 1987, obtaining a bachelor of science degree in computer information systems. He completed ROTC and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He holds a master’s degree in computer resources and information management from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo. He was selected to attend the War College next summer.

Brown’s career has spanned over 21 years. He began his service at Fort Lewis, Wash., and was assigned to Hawai’i after attending the Marine Command and Control course at Quantico, Va. He has also served in Germany, Kosovo and Iraq. Earlier this year, he was assigned to his current position as the division chief of the Operations Cupport Division, Human Resources Command.

His awards and decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with five oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service, Kosovo Liberation Medal, NATO Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon with two oak leaf clusters, the Senior Airborne Badge, Air Assault Badges, the Royal Thai Senior Parachutist Badge and the Joint Chief Badge.

Brown is married to the former Idella Huffman of Montgomery. They have two children, Markus and Mia, and they live in Manassas, Va.