Maj. Gen. Vincent Brooks, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division, was the keynote speaker April 20 during the 14th Battle Command Conference at West Point's Eisenhower Hall. As a West Point Class of 1980 graduate and first African-American first captain at the academy, Brooks spoke to a group of 1,000-plus graduating West Point and ROTC cadets about the leadership roles they are about to embark upon. The leadership lessons Brooks presented to the cadets were summed up with three L's: Lead, Listen and Learn. The three-day conference gathered more than 100 recent combat veteran officers and noncommissioned officers throughout the Army to impart first-hand knowledge and experience to the future commissioned officers. The mentors participated in leader-to-leader sessions, designed to inspire high-energy dialogue based upon real-life vignettes. The conference also included company seminars, regimental panels and scheduled military panels on topics such as "Marriage and Families in the Military" and "A Unit Leader's Perspective of Dealing with Causalities."