General Charles Q. Brown, Jr.
Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff
Charles Quinton Brown, Jr., was born in 1962 in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock with an undergraduate degree in civil engineering, where he was part of the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps. At his graduation, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He went on to earn a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Brown has held command offices of the Pacific Air Force, U.S. Air Forces Central Command, 31st Fighter Wing, 8th Fighter Wing, U.S. Air Force Weapons School, and 78th Fighter Squadron. He was deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command.
He was nominated to be Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force by President Donald Trump, was confirmed by the Senate, and assumed his position in June 2020. Brown was nominated by President Joe Biden to succeed General Mark Milley as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. His nomination received confirmation by the Senate in September 2023.
General Brown is a command pilot with more than 5,000 flying hours, including 130 combat hours. He flew both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.
In the News…
Then-U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown warned that China is seeking to recruit hundreds of military veterans and troops “to exploit [their] knowledge and skill to fill in gaps in their military capability.”
General Brown stated the pitch of CCP-related companies usually comes in vague or subtle contacts. He cited an example of an incident in June when “the government placed the Test Flying Academy of South Africa on an export control list based on its work to facilitate training and technical support for the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] using a former U.S. military member.”
General Brown said if service members accept the contracts, they could be in jeopardy of legal consequences. “By essentially training the trainer, many of those who accept contracts with these foreign companies are eroding our national security, putting the very safety of their fellow service members and the country at risk, and may be violating the law,” General Brown wrote in a memo.
The U.S. Air Force has reiterated that China is a national security threat.
