Military officer Major General Alfred K. Flowers was born in 1947, in Kinston, North Carolina. In 1965, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was assigned as a supply warehouseman at Grand Forks Air Force Base. He received his B.S. degree from Southern Illinois University and his M.A. degree from Ball State University. In 1978, he attended officer training school at the Medina Annex, Lackland AFB. Later in his career, he served as chief of budget at Langley AFB and director of budget programs for the Department of the Air Force. In 2012, after forty-six years of the service, Flowers retired from the U.S. Air Force, making him the longest-serving airman in Air Force history and the longest serving African American in the history of the U.S. Department of Defense. After retiring from active duty, Flowers served on the board of directors for a number of veteran-related organizations.