page_title: Bryan D. Brown
section_title: Commander of USSOCOM
hierarchical_section_title: Bryan D. Brown / Military service / Commander of USSOCOM
caption_attribution_description: English: Maj. Mark Mitchell is pinned Nov. 14 2003 with the Distinguished Service Cross, for combat actions during the w:Battle of Qala-i-Jangi in Operation Enduring Freedom, by Gen. Bryan Brown, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command.
context_page_description: Bryan Douglas "Doug" Brown is a retired four-star United States Army general. He retired in 2007 after four decades of military service. In his final assignment, he served as the seventh commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, from September 2, 2003, until July 9, 2007. As USSOCOM's commander, he was responsible for all unified special operations forces, both active duty and reserve.
  Brown joined the United States Army in 1967 as a private in the infantry and after graduating from Special Forces Qualification Course, he became a Green Beret. He enrolled in Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in May 1970. After attending Army Aviation School, he deployed to Vietnam as a UH-1 helicopter pilot. After the Vietnam War, he was part of a task force that would go on to later found the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment in 1981. During his stint in the 160th SOAR, Brown took part in numerous contingency operations in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1983, Brown participated in the invasion of Grenada where his unit became the first aviation unit to use night vision goggles in combat.
context_section_description: On September 2, 2003, Brown replaced Air Force General Charles R. Holland as the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. During Brown's tenure as USSOCOM commander, he was involved in the aftermath of the Pat Tillman friendly fire incident that occurred in early 2004. He testified before the congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 2007 about receiving a memo from Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then-commander of JSOC, informing Brown that it was "highly possible that Corporal Tillman was killed by friendly fire". Ultimately, former commanding general of USASOC Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger and other Army officers were held responsible for the mishandling of information surrounding Tillman's death.
  On November 23, 2005, Brown, together with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Marine Corps Commandant General Michael Hagee announced the creation of the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC). Prior to the creation of MARSOC, the Marine Corps had not been involved in special operations, which were conducted by Army, Navy and Air Force units assigned to U.S. Special Operations Command. After the September 11 attacks, the Secretary of Defense had directed the Marine Corps and Brown's predecessor to work closer together in the Global War on Terror. This culminated in the creation of MCSOCOM Detachment One on June 19, 2003, shortly before Brown took command of USSOCOM. It was nearly three years later on February 24, 2006, when MARSOC was activated at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
  In 2006, Brown oversaw the SOF component of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) which is a legislatively-mandated study by the Department of Defense that analyzes strategic objectives and potential military threats. As a result of Brown's contributions to the 2006 QDR were considered a success and a "major stride forward" in preparing U.S. special forces for future contingencies by increasing the SOF budget and manpower. As a result of the 2006 QDR the capabilities of USSOCOM were greatly expanded, including increasing active-duty Special Forces battalions by one-third, expansion of psychological operations and civil affairs units by 33%, increasing the number of Navy SEALs, among other major changes.
  After four years of leading USSOCOM through the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan, President George W. Bush nominated Rear Admiral Eric T. Olson to succeed Brown as the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command on May 11, 2007. Brown and Olson had served at the USSOCOM headquarters in Tampa together for four years, and Olson had been the deputy commander since 2003. The change of command ceremony took place on July 9, 2007, at the Tampa Convention Center. It was presided over by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. During the ceremony, Gates said, "He came to this post four years ago determined to improve the way special operators fight. He has done just that". At the time of the change of command ceremony, Brown was the longest serving commander in U.S. Special Operations Command history with 1,406 days in office. Over the course of his military career, Brown amassed a total of 4,400 hours of flight time in fixed and rotary-winged aircraft.
caption: In 2003 Gen Brown awarded the first Distinguished Service Cross since Vietnam to Maj. Mark Mitchell for combat actions during the 2001 Battle of Qala-i-Jangi.
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