Jerome G. Cooper

Jerome Gary Cooper (born 1936) is a former officer of the United States Marine Corps who served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) from 1989 to 1992, and as United States Ambassador to Jamaica from 1994 to 1997.

Jerome G. Cooper was born on October 2, 1936 in Lafayette, Louisiana. He attended high school at Most Pure Heart of Mary High School graduating in 1954 . He was educated at the University of Notre Dame, receiving a B.A. in 1958.

After college, Cooper joined the United States Marine Corps. During the Vietnam War, he became the first African American to ever command a Marine Corps infantry company. He left the Marine Corps in 1970. During his time in the Marine Corps, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, two Purple Hearts and three Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Crosses.

In 1970, Cooper left the Marine Corps, though he continued to serve as a major in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. From 1970, he was Director of an insurance company and funeral home that had been owned by his family for decades in Mobile, Alabama. He was elected to the Alabama Legislature in 1973. In 1978, the Governor of Alabama named Cooper to his cabinet, with Cooper becoming Commissioner of the Alabama State Department of Human Resources.

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