On Monday, Jan. 19, the Martha’s Vineyard NAACP will hold its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. membership and award event at the Oyster Bar Grill in Oak Bluffs. The featured guest speaker will be a distinguished Vineyarder, Maj. Gen. Joseph C. Carter, former Oak Bluffs chief of police.

Major General Carter is currently assigned as the Adjutant General for the Massachusetts National Guard.

He entered the Massachusetts Army National Guard in 1974 and rose to the rank of staff sergeant prior to receiving his commission as a second lieutenant at the Massachusetts Military Academy in 1979. His military career included key leadership positions in the Army National Guard in training, intelligence and security, tactical surveillance and military police as a company commander, MP and infantry platoon leader.

Prior to assuming his duties as adjutant general, Mr. Carter served as chief of police for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). He is a life member of the First Corps of Cadets and the NAACP and is affiliated with many other civic and military organizations having received numerous commendations and honors for both professional and civic achievement. He recently completed service as the elected president of the 21,000 member international associations of chiefs of police, the nation’s largest professional organizations of police executives. He is married and his daughter is a student at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

Mr. Carter will be introduced by Oak Bluffs police chief Erik Blake. There will be a buffet brunch at the Oyster Bar and an opportunity to meet the new officers and executive committee members. Admission is $65 and includes one-year membership in the NAACP and a year’s subscription to Crisis Magazine.

For information call 508-696-5785.