The retired four-star general who's now leading the Pentagon as the United States’ first Black defense secretary has family ties to Wilson.

Senators confirmed Lloyd Austin to the Cabinet post in a 93-2 vote on Friday. Austin was a Fort Bragg commander during his Army career and his wife, Charlene Austin, previously lived in Wilson.

“I am honored to have this chance to serve again and to do so alongside you and your families,” Austin wrote in a Friday memo to U.S. troops titled Day One Message to the Force. “My wife, Charlene, and I know all too well the sacrifices you make to keep this country safe. That safety is job one, and I promise to work as hard as you do at it.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-Wilson, noted his rapport with the couple, describing the Austins as “family friends of many years.”

“Mrs. Austin’s parents were my neighbors in Wilson, North Carolina,” Butterfield said in a prepared statement. “General and Mrs. Austin have been a perfect example of a military family who unselfishly serve our nation.”

Austin was the first Black officer to lead U.S. Central Command. In that role, Austin succeeded Gen. Jim Mattis, who served as President Donald Trump’s secretary of defense from 2017-19.

“General Austin is well qualified to serve in this most important position,” Butterfield said. “His years of command leadership and commitment to our nation’s defense are unparalleled.”

Austin retired from the Army in 2016, capping a 40-year military career. On Thursday, both houses of Congress approved a waiver allowing Austin to lead the Department of Defense due to a law that requires a seven-year period between military service and civilian leadership. Congress had also approved that exception for Mattis.

President Joe Biden nominated Austin to serve as secretary of defense in early December, noting that he was only the 200th person and sixth African American to become a four-star general in the U.S. military.

“General Austin shares my profound belief that our nation is at its strongest when we lead not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example,” Biden said in a December news release announcing the nomination. “Throughout his lifetime of dedicated service — and in the many hours we’ve spent together in the White House Situation Room and with our troops overseas — General Austin has demonstrated exemplary leadership, character and command.”

Charlene D. Austin is a Washington, D.C., native who’s served as a volunteer, adviser and consultant on issues affecting military families, according to a biography on the National Defense University website. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Fayetteville State University and a master’s from Auburn University, where her husband also attended graduate school.

While the Austins were stationed at Fort Bragg, Charlene Austin received the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County’s inaugural Award for Military Family and Leadership.