Charles Quinton Brown Jr.[2] was born in 1962 to a military family in San Antonio, Texas. Brown was nicknamed "CQ". He had one sister. His father, Charles Sr., served for 30 years in the Army, rising to the rank of colonel. His paternal grandfather, Robert E. Brown, was drafted in World War II and served in the Pacific Theater in Hawaii and Saipan.[citation needed]
Brown has commanded a fighter squadron, the United States Air Force Weapons School, and two fighter wings. One was the 8th Fighter Wing, nicknamed "Wolf Pack", at Kunsan Air Force Base, South Korea. Prior to his current assignment, he served as director, operations, strategic deterrence, and nuclear integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe—Air Forces Africa, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. He is a command pilot with more than 2,900 flying hours, including 130 combat hours.[6]
In June 2015, Brown received his third star when he was appointed as commander of United States Air Forces Central Command (USAFCENT). In July 2016 he was appointed as deputy commander of United States Central Command. As AFCENT commander, Brown oversaw all of Air Force operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, while also second-in-command of USCENTCOM.[7][8]
Vice President Mike Pence ceremonially swears in Brown as the 22nd chief of staff of the United States Air Force in the Oval Office, August 4, 2020. Brown officially took office two days later in a separate ceremony at Joint Base Andrews.
On March 2, 2020, the White House announced that President Donald Trump would nominate Brown to become the next Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, succeeding General David L. Goldfein.[10] On June 9, 2020, Brown was unanimously confirmed (98–0) by the United States Senate to succeed Goldfein as Chief of Staff of the US Air Force.[11] With this confirmation he became the first African American to lead a branch of the United States Armed Forces.[12] As Air Force Chief of Staff, he advises the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council regarding Air Force matters, and is the most senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for organizing, training and equipping all of the active-duty Air Force officers, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.
Brown has acted to establish a flexible logistics system in the Air Force's budget for Fiscal year 2021, in order to ensure the Air Force is capable of conducting "expeditionary logistics under attack".[13]
Brown has maintained Goldfein's prioritization of multi-domain command and control following the Air Force Association's 2016 Air, Space & Cyber Conference.[13] Following the establishment of the United States Space Force, which is also part of the Department of the Air Force, Brown worked closely with the first Chief of Space Operations General Jay Raymond. Brown has said that the Space Force will make up much of the Air Force department's "near-term innovation and development". He has emphasized the importance of space superiority and committed to a full collaboration between the Air Force and Space Force.[13]
As Air Force Chief of Staff, Brown began integration of the new tanker aircraft, Boeing KC-46 Pegasus, as part of Air Force fleet rejuvenation, and began its operation within Air Mobility Command. Brown and several Congressional delegation members, including U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a longtime advocate for the tanker, participated in a demonstration flight at Joint Base Andrews.[14][15]
Brown is sworn in as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by his predecessor, General Mark Milley, on September 29, 2023.
Considered a frontrunner for the position prior to his official nomination,[19][20] Brown was formally announced as President Joe Biden's nominee to succeed General Mark Milley as the 21st chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on May 25, 2023.[21] He was confirmed by the Senate on September 20, 2023,[22] and sworn in on September 29.[23][24][25] His term is effective as of October 1, 2023.[26]
Brown with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi in Tel Aviv, Israel, December 18, 2023
After the outbreak of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Brown said that the U.S. military can support the needs of both Israel and Ukraine.[27] Brown warned Iran "not to get involved" in the war in Gaza.[28]
November 1988 – April 1991, F-16 instructor pilot, wing electronic combat officer, and wing standardization and evaluation flight examiner, 307th and 308th Tactical Fighter Squadrons, Homestead AFB, Florida
April 1991 – August 1991, student, U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons Instructor Course, Nellis AFB, Nevada
August 1991 – August 1992, F-16 squadron weapons officer and flight commander of 307th Fighter Squadron, Homestead AFB, Florida
September 1992 – October 1994, weapons school instructor, and standardization and evaluation flight examiner, F-16 Division, U.S. Air Force Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nevada
October 1994 – July 1996, aide-de-camp to the chief of staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Arlington, Virginia
August 1996 – June 1997, student, Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
June 1997 – September 1997, student, Armed Forces Staff College, National Defense University, Norfolk, Virginia
September 1997 – November 1999, air operations officer, Current Operations Division, Operations Directorate, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Florida
November 1999 – June 2003, F-16CJ instructor pilot and assistant operations officer, 79th Fighter Squadron; weapons and training flight commander, 20th Operations Support Squadron; operations officer, 55th Fighter Squadron; and commander of 78th Fighter Squadron, Shaw AFB, South Carolina
July 2003 – June 2004, National Defense Fellow, Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, Virginia
June 2004 – June 2005, deputy chief of Program Integration Division, Directorate of Programs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Arlington, Virginia
July 2005 – May 2007, commandant, USAF Weapons School, 57th Wing, Nellis AFB, Nevada
May 2007 – May 2008, commander, 8th Fighter Wing, Kunsan AB, South Korea
June 2008 – May 2009, director of Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff Executive Action Group, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Arlington, Virginia
June 2009 – April 2011, commander, 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano AB, Italy
May 2011 – May 2013, deputy director of Operations Directorate, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Florida
May 2013 – February 2014, deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command; deputy, Combined Force Air Component Commander, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia
March 2014 – June 2015, director of operations, strategic deterrence, and nuclear integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa, Ramstein AB, Germany
June 2015 – July 2016, commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command; Combined Force Air Component Commander, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia
July 2016 – July 2018, deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Florida
July 2018 – July 2020, commander of Pacific Air Forces; Air Component Commander for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; and executive director of Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii[6]
August 2020 – September 2023, chief of staff, United States Air Force, Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia
October 2023 – present, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia
Brown is rated as a command pilot, having logged more than 2,900 flight hours, including 130 combat hours. Aircraft he has flown include the F-16A/B/C/D, AC-130U, AH-64, AT-38, B-1B, B-2A, B-52H, C-130J, E-8C, HH-60G, KC-135, MV-22, T-37, T-38 and two more fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft.[6]
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