It was risky and inopportune time for the general to draw public attention and pull back the curtain on his private thoughts. He is seen as a contrast to Milley, who has remained outspoken throughout his tenure, often to the ire of former President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers. In person, Brown is private, thoughtful and deliberate. The campaign very much has China in mind, pushing the service to shed legacy warplanes and speed its efforts to counter hypersonics, drones and space weapons, where the military’s lingering Cold War-era inventory does not match up. He was widely viewed within military circles as the frontrunner for the chairmanship, with the right commands and a track record of driving institutional change, attributes seen as needed to push the Pentagon onto a more modern footing to meet China’s rise.įor the past two years Brown has pressed “Accelerate, Change or Lose” within the Air Force. His nomination caps a four-decade military career that began with his commission as a distinguished ROTC graduate from Texas Tech University in 1984. Brown grew up on several military bases, which helped instill in him a sense of mission. His grandfather led a segregated Army unit in World War II and his father was an artillery officer and Vietnam War veteran. Born in San Antonio, he is from a family of Army soldiers. Colin Powell.īrown, 60, has commanded the nation’s air power at all levels. Brown would not be the first African American to be chairman, the Pentagon’s top military post that distinction went to the late Army Gen. If confirmed, he would be part of another first - the first time the Pentagon’s top two posts were held by African Americans, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin the top civilian leader. He’s been many firsts, including the Air Force’s first Black commander of the Pacific Air Forces, and most recently its first Black chief of staff, making him the first African American to lead any of the military branches. That mindset is going to be an enormous asset to me as commander in chief of the United States of America as we navigate challenges in the coming years.” Brown doesn’t play for second place,” the president said, with Brown by his side. If I’m in, I’m in to win - I do not play to lose.”īiden referenced Brown’s comments in his praise.
To this day, his core tenets are to “execute at a high standard, personally and professionally,” Brown said this month at an Air Force Association conference in Colorado. He’s spent much of his career being one of the Air Force’s top aviators, one of its few Black pilots and often one of the only African Americans in his squadron.
The call sign reveal was a rare inner look into Brown, who keeps his cards close to his chest. Milley described Brown as “absolutely superb.” Speaking earlier in the day at a Pentagon news conference, he said he was “looking forward to a speedy confirmation.”
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