NC Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety, Bryan Beatty congratulated him on being the first African American to be appointed to a General Officer position in the NC National Guard. He thanked Brig. Gen. Gorham for his past leadership and service to the State of North Carolina and said he looked forward to working with him in the future, Beatty overseas the NC National Guard and its nearly 12,000 Citizens Soldiers and Airmen.

Speaking to the chamber packed with friends, family, coworkers and fellow soldiers, Brig. Gen Gorham thanked many for supporting him in his professional civilian, military, and personal life to help bring out the best in him and attain this achievement.

A 34-year military veteran, Brig. Gen. Gorham assumed the position of Deputy Adjutant General, NC National Guard. He has served in leadership positions at every level including the 130th Finance Battalion, headquartered in Morrisville, which he led during their deployment to Iraq in 2004. While in Iraq his battalion successfully processed billions of U.S. Dollars for operations throughout the Iraqi Theater of Operations without any significant loss of funds . Prior to his promotion, Gorham commanded the 113th Sustainment Brigade, headquartered in Greensboro.

He began his career as an enlisted Soldier in May 1974 and was commissioned through the North Carolina National Guard Military Academy's Officer Candidate School in June 1980 as the Distinguished Graduate.

Gorham has served in various positions with ever increasing responsibility as a platoon leader, company commander, plans and training officer, battalion commander, deputy brigade commander, chief of staff, Army National Guard and brigade commander.

His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement medal, National Defense Service medal with two bronze stars, Iraq Campaign medal, Global War on Terrorism Service medal, Humanitarian Service medal, Armed Forces Reserve medal with "M" device and Gold Hourglass and the Army Service ribbon.

A Farmville High School alumnus, his civilian education includes Bachelor's degree from East Carolina University in history and a Master's from Army War College in strategic studies.

He has completed many military schools including, Army War College, Command and General Staff School, Military Police Officer Basic and Infantry Officer Advanced course.

He works full time as the vice president at First Citizens Bank in Kernersville.  Brig. Gen. Gorham is married and has three children.