Charles Long

"Colonel" Charles "Chuck" Long (born 1945) is the founder of the America's Buffalo Soldiers Re-Enactors Association. (The title of colonel is self-styled. Long only attained the rank of Lance Corporal while serving in the United States Marines.) Long is best known as the operator of two controversial and short-lived youth recruit training boot camps in Arizona based on the Buffalo Soldiers, African American cavalry regiments of the 19th century, and the teachings of fundamentalist Christianity. Long, a history buff, founded the ABSRA as an entertainment venture, allegedly for a Western movie that was never filmed. Long earned several awards for his re-enacting work and appeared in photographs shaking hands with Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-Texas Governor George W. Bush. Later the ABSRA focused on history education: giving speeches at schools and marching in military parades. In 2000, Long first had the idea of establishing a youth boot camp on the Fort Apache Reservation from NBA legend (and fellow history buff) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had recently coached a basketball camp for Apache children.