“From the Sea to the C-Suite” is a veteran-focused talk show that highlights the journeys of Navy and maritime veterans as they transition from military service toleadership roles in the business world. We celebrate the discipline, resilience, and strategic thinking developed at sea. Those same qualities often turn into success in corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, and community impact.
Our show is more than a spotlight on veteran accomplishments. It’s a place where viewers can learn how teamwork, mission-driven leadership, and the mindset developed through service to help veterans navigate business challenges, innovate in their industries, and build organizations that make a meaningful difference in their communities.
Each episode features conversations with veterans who continue to lead and serve through their work in business and community initiatives. Today, our hosts Captain Rick Hoffman and Whitney Mincey sat down with Reuben Green.
Reuben Green
Author of “Black Officer, White Navy”
Transcript:
Whitney:
Hello and welcome back to From the Sea to the C-Suite. I’m your host, Whitney Mincey. I’m joined by my co-host, Captain Rick, and also our very special guest, Mr. Reuben Keith Green. Welcome.
Reuben:
Well, thank you.
Whitney:
Absolutely. We’re happy to have you. And I understand that the two of you have a little bit of background.
Rick:
We do. I met Keith several years ago, and we had a good long chat. He shared with me one of his books, and I read it. It was fun.
One interesting thing that made me really think — he and I joined the Navy at the same time. We did not have the same experience.
I mean, shocking, shocking.
And to be fair, we both joined the Navy during a very tumultuous time of race relations in particular. He’s done an excellent job of highlighting his perspective and his experiences going through that challenge.
I was a witness to it, but not a participant. In fact, I wasn’t even really a witness to it. I barely knew it was happening. That’s just the way it is.
Keith continues to write and continues to be thoughtful on important issues for our Navy and for our nation, leveraging his experience with what was a very white Navy.
The book is called Black Officer, White Navy.
At the time, leveraging that experience and those realities in informing his discourse and his thoughts for today. So please tell us what you’ve been up to.
Reuben:
Well, since we met and had our luncheon discussions and whatnot, the University Press of Kentucky, based on the reception to that book, contacted me and asked if I would let them acquire the rights to the book.
So I rewrote the book and added an epilogue — a final chapter.
I had to take out about 78,000 words because that’s 350 pages of very dense text, but I got it down to a manageable level. I published that two years ago.
I’ve been writing articles for Naval Institute Press. I wrote an article about the first black naval officer who was commissioned in 1917. No one knew about it.
I didn’t believe the story until I started researching it. I did a tremendous amount of research and then wrote a story for the Center for International Maritime Security about him.
I’ve written numerous articles about the Uniform Code of Military Justice, about racism in the military, and co-wrote with Dr. John Caudle some articles about how the Department of Defense could implement a ten-point plan regarding diversity and inclusion.
I’ve been primarily posting articles and writing on LinkedIn. Some love me, some hate me. But it’s been very few people that have proved me wrong about anything.
Whitney:
Well, what they can’t argue is that you’re informed and passionate. It sounds like that probably comes from your family’s history with the military. Tell us about that.
Reuben:
Well, I’m a third-generation military veteran. My grandfather served in World War II. He served in Europe and wound up having some sort of pulmonary — respiratory issues.
He died in a VA hospital in 1948, I believe. His son was 12 years old when he died.
My father at 17 joined the Army, went to jump school, earned his jump wings, and wound up in Korea in a tank battalion. He got terrible frostbite on his feet and had a rough time in Korea.
After his tour in the Army, he joined the Navy and served on at least eight ships and did four tours in Vietnam. He was in two modes — brown water Navy riverine patrols and related missions.
He wound up leaving the Navy under bad circumstances, and I didn’t know most of that until just a couple of years ago when I got his records from the archives.
What I did not know was that my father had gone to Captain’s Mast for inciting a riot on board a naval vessel.
In addition to that, he wound up getting a stellar evaluation from his last ship. He got the stellar evaluation but also got an RE-4 reenlistment code, which means he had to have special permission to reenlist.
So there’s a story there that I haven’t pulled the string on yet. Looking through all his records, how do you have this stellar record but not be allowed to reenlist without permission?
He was 18 months away from being able to retire. That’s a huge story that I’ve never been able to piece together. Someday I think I will.
Rick:
You also have a long history here in Jacksonville.
Reuben:
I do. I’ve been in Jacksonville since 1980. I joined the Navy in 1975 and started reading about the Navy’s history of race relations in early 1976.
I read Admiral Zumwalt’s book On Watch, his memoir about his time in service. The three chapters dealing with race relations really stuck with me, particularly one called Sailing Second Class.
That’s what I titled the last chapter in my book before the epilogue.
He learned from Lieutenant Commander Bill Norman about the problems that black servicemen and officers had in the military and their families.
I learned about that in 1976 when I read that book.
Later I read a book called Bloods by Wallace Terry, an oral history of Vietnam veterans in the military. Bill Norman was one of the individuals interviewed for that book.
He and I struck up a conversation on LinkedIn. He’s still alive. I haven’t spoken with him in a while — I think he’s in his late 80s now.
I’ve been pushing the Naval History and Heritage Command and the National Naval Officers Association to honor him because he helped change the course of the Navy.
Admiral Zumwalt said he did more to improve race relations than anybody else in the military.
Whitney:
Well, tell us what you are currently writing or speaking about.
Reuben:
Mostly I talk about the importance of following regulations.
All these regulations — rules of engagement, equal opportunity policies — they exist because of hard lessons the military has learned over time.
Going back even to George Washington. Initially, George Washington refused to allow black soldiers to serve in his military.
When the British said, “Come fight for us and we’ll grant you freedom,” about 15,000 black men flocked to the British.
All of a sudden George Washington realized that was a lot of manpower we could use.
So this goes back a long way.
I’ve read a lot of military history — memoirs, biographies, and historical accounts of wars.
My head is full of all this information, and I try to put it out in professional forums like LinkedIn because I want people to understand that some of the things happening now also happened decades ago.
Back in 1919, the Navy banned the enlistment of black sailors. At the same time, they commissioned a black chief boatswain’s mate named Garrison Payne.
He won the Navy Cross. He was the first black man to command a Navy warship.
Rick:
First to be commissioned.
Reuben:
Yes, first to be commissioned.
He was an unknown figure. A man from Indiana contacted me and told me this wild story. I had a hard time believing it, but I asked him to send me the information he had gathered.
I started piecing everything together, bought some old books on Amazon, and researched the integration of the officer corps in the military.
I then wrote a lengthy piece for the Center for International Maritime Security.
It completely changed the Navy’s understanding of its race relations history for officers.
Because of the current climate, the Navy has not acknowledged Garrison Payne in any official way.
There was a story being worked on in 2024, but because of the abolition of Black History Month observances and related issues, it got shelved.
Eventually they will recognize that the history has changed and the documents are there to prove it.
Whitney:
Well unfortunately we are out of time, but thank you so much for being here, Keith. You have amazing stories and knowledge, and I’m sure there’s much more you could share with us.
Reuben:
Thank you.
Rick:
Follow Keith on LinkedIn. I will vouch for the quality of his writing and the importance of his message.
He’s lived it. He’s walked the walk and talked the talk. It’s been very informative to me as someone who doesn’t share that same experience but wants to understand the challenges and hardships.
We were both chief engineers on guided missile frigates at different times.
I reread that chapter last night. When you have a diesel engine or a gas turbine engine blowing up, it’ll wake you up.
Reuben:
Reuben Keith Green on LinkedIn is the professional name I use. Former naval officer.
Whitney:
Thank you so much for your time. Thank you, Captain Rick, for co-hosting with me.
Reuben:
Thank you.
Whitney:
If you want to learn more about what Mr. Reuben Keith Green is working on, head over to DailyNewsNetwork.com. All of his information will be listed there.
We will see you next time on From the Sea to the C-Suite.
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