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…
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General C.Q. Brown, Jr. intends to remain the country’s highest-ranking military official under President Trump’s second administration.
“That’s my plan,” he stated while leaving the U.S. Capitol Building on Monday.
Brown has received criticism from President Donald Trump and the president’s allies for incorporating diversity initiatives into military policies.
Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth said during an interview, “First of all, you got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke… has got to go.”
Brown has taken steps to bridge opposition to his leadership. In December, he sat with and spoke to then-President-elect Trump during an Army-Navy football game, and he attended President Trump’s inauguration ceremony earlier this week.
