Retired Lt. General, alumnus to speak at Veterans Day event

Campbell University will host a Veterans Day celebration in the Academic Circle at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11. Retired Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, a 1988 Campbell graduate who served as deputy chief of staff of installations in the U.S. Army from 2022 to 2024, will be the featured speaker.

The ceremony will also include a brass ensemble led by Campbell Assistant Professor of Music Dr. William Beach, and President Dr. William M. Downs will recognize those who have served and who currently serve.

Vereen returns to his alma mater after a nearly 40-year military career that began with his commissioning as a field artillery officer following his graduation from Campbell. A native of Fayetteville, Vereen was born at Fort Bragg Army Base, the son of an Army Green Beret. His twin brother also served in the Army.

After an assignment as a battery executive officer in Korea, Vereen took his first military police assignment in 1991 and served at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The next several years took him to Alabama, Colorado, back to Fort Bragg, Kansas, back to Korea and Missouri before he was assigned as the deputy brigade commander for the 42nd Military Police Brigade at Fort Lewis, Washington, in 2008. He was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and returned in 2009 to attend the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania, graduating in 2011.

In 2015, during his first assignment as a general officer, Vereen became the 48th Chief of the United States Army Military Police School and Commandant of the Military Police Corps Regiment at Fort Leonard Wood.

After earning his second star, Vereen transferred to the Pentagon in 2019 to serve as the Provost Marshal General of the U.S. Army and Commanding General, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. In 2020, he served as the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, guiding the Army through some of its most difficult recruiting years during the height of the pandemic.

Vereen and his wife, Monica Coachman Vereen, founded The Real Team Vereen LLC, which focuses on executive leadership development and provides organizations guidance related to physical and personal security matters, as well as policing and corrections. The couple also set up General Lee Speaking LLC, with emphasis on media engagement, keynote speaking, brand development and digital content.

Vereen was named a Distinguished Graduate of Campbell in 2022. Now retired, he and his wife live in Fayetteville.