Honoring Fleet Master Chief April Beldo, USN

A woman of many firsts, Fleet Master Chief April Beldo has enabled generations of leaders to achieve their goals and dreams. Beldo was the first woman command master chief (CMC) of Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Illinois, in 2006; the first Black woman CMC to be assigned to an aircraft carrier (USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)) in 2009; the first woman and first Black force master chief (FORCM) for Naval Education and Training Command in 2012; and the first woman to be the Manpower, Personnel, Training, and Education (MPT&E) fleet master chief in 2017. She retired in 2017 after 34 years of service.