Jones County native Maj. Gen. Alfred Flowers headlines men’s leadership summit
The longest-serving Airman in U.S. Air Force history returns home to Jones County, where his journey began as keynote speaker for the C.A.L.L.S. Men’s Leadership Summit
MAYSVILLE — Long before Major General Alfred K. Flowers made U.S. Air Force history, he was a young boy growing up in a sharecropping family among the tobacco fields of eastern North Carolina. At night, he could lie in bed in his family’s four-room home and see the sky through holes in its tin roof, dreaming not of becoming a general, but simply of finding a way out of poverty.
At 17, Flowers left rural Jones County and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. His first assignment took him to North Dakota, where he worked as a warehouseman earning $94 a month. From that modest paycheck, he set aside $30 each month toward his future and his hope of one day buying a proper home for the grandmother who had helped raise him.
More than six decades later, Flowers came home to Jones County having traveled a journey few could have imagined.
He returned to Maysville on August 22 as keynote speaker for the 2026 Men’s Leadership Summit, presented by the Community Academy for Leadership & Life Skills (C.A.L.L.S.) at Meadows Farm & Venue. The Summit brought together men and young men across generations under the theme “Let Us Rise Up and Build,” inspired by Nehemiah (2:18).
Flowers spent more than 13 years as an enlisted Airman before earning his commission and eventually rising to major general. By his retirement in 2012, he had served more than 46 years and earned a place in history as the longest-serving Airman in the U.S. Air Force and the longest-serving African American on active duty in the Department of Defense across all
branches of service. His final assignment placed him at the highest levels of Air Force financial management, directing formulation of an annual budget of approximately $170 billion.
Yet the message Flowers brought home was not simply about how far he had risen. It centered on what carried him there—faith, family, education, preparation, perseverance, humility and service—and the responsibility to remember and invest in those who helped us along the way. Those principles are also reflected in his book, Reflections of a Servant Leader, and in the message he continues to share with audiences around the country.
Flowers’ message aptly embodied the very purpose of the C.A.L.L.S. Summit.
C.A.L.L.S. grew from a vision shared in 2015 by three military veterans from the Long Point community of Jones County—to create forums where people could share what they had learned, bring new opportunities and resources into the community, and connect people with experiences that might otherwise seem out of reach. The Men’s Leadership Summit brought that vision to life by bringing seasoned and aspiring leaders together to learn from one another, exchange ideas and invest across generations.
The morning combined that leadership focus with practical information. Marine Federal Credit Union presented a session on financial management, while the Social Security Administration provided an overview of Social Security benefits, followed by opportunities for questions, reflection and fellowship.
The Summit was supported in part by a grant from the Jones County Community Foundation Community Grantmaking Fund, administered by the North Carolina Community Foundation, and grant support from Jones-Onslow EMC. Additional program and in-kind support came from Marine Federal Credit Union, Chick-fil-A of Jacksonville, Krispy Kreme, Walmart, Lowe’s Foods, Sam’s Club and Harris Teeter, along with local volunteers and community partners.
For the men and young men gathered in Maysville, Flowers’ homecoming provided a powerful example of the Summit’s message. A journey that began beneath a tin roof among the tobacco fields of Jones County ultimately reached the highest ranks of the U.S. Air Force—and came full circle when one of the community’s own returned home to share what he had learned with those coming behind him.
