page_title: Charles Q. Brown Jr.
section_title: Military career
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Q. Brown Jr. / Military career
caption_attribution_description: English: Commander-in-Chief of The Pacific Air Forces (CINCPACAF) General Charles Q. Brown Jr. with Indonesian Air Force Chief of Staff Air Chief Marshal Yuyu Sutisna during a visit to Jakarta, Indonesia.
context_page_description: Charles Quinton Brown Jr. is a United States Air Force four-star general who currently serves as the 22nd chief of staff of the Air Force. He is the first African-American to be appointed as Chief of Staff and the first African-American to lead any branch of the United States Armed Forces. Brown assumed office from Gen David L. Goldfein who served as Chief of Staff since 2016 in a ceremony at Joint Base Andrews on 6 August 2020.
  Brown's previous assignments include serving as the commander of Pacific Air Forces, air component commander for United States Indo-Pacific Command and executive director of the Pacific Air Combat Operations Staff. As the air component commander for CENTCOM, he was responsible for developing contingency plans and conducting air operations in a 20-nation area of responsibility covering Central and Southwest Asia. Brown also previously served as the deputy commander of United States Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, and prior to that, he was the commander of Air Forces Central.
context_section_description: At the time of his promotion to brigadier general, Brown was commander of the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base in Italy.
  Brown has served in a variety of positions at the squadron and wing level, including an assignment to the United States Air Force Weapons School as an F-16 instructor. His notable staff tours include aide-de-camp to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force; director, Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff Executive Action Group; and deputy director, operations, U.S. Central Command. He also served as a national defense fellow at the Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, VA.
  Brown has commanded a fighter squadron, the United States Air Force Weapons School, and two fighter wings. 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.
  On 2 March 2020, it was announced that President Donald Trump would nominate Brown to become the next Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, succeeding David L. Goldfein.
  On 9 June 2020, Brown was unanimously confirmed (98–0) by the United States Senate to succeed Goldfein as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. This confirmation will make him the first African American to lead a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
caption: General Charles Q. Brown Jr. with Indonesian Air Force Chief of Staff Air Chief Marshal Yuyu Sutisna during a visit to Jakarta, Indonesia.
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