Thomas L . Brown II Rear Admiral Thomas L . Brown II ( born 1960 ) is a United States Navy officer and the first Navy officer to command Special Operations Command South , based in Homestead Joint Air Reserve Base , Florida . Early years . Brown was born in Michigan , but raised in Danbury , CT where his parents Thomas L . Brown and Marjorie G . Brown still reside . The elder Brown is a retired U . S . Navy Commander and Naval Aviator who flew the P - 5 Marlin and P - 3 Orion aircraft . After retiring from the military , Brown was a pilot for TWA . Rear Admiral Brown was commissioned as a Naval officer from the University of New Mexico ' s Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps ( NROTC ) in 1983 . Military career . He completed Underwater Demolition / SEAL Training and Army Airborne School prior to his assignment to Navy SEAL Team FIVE in 1984 . In 1987 he studied Spanish at the Defense Language Institute and then reported to SEAL Team ONE to serve as platoon commander and operations officer . Brown ’ s assignments include SEAL Team EIGHT executive officer where he deployed as Naval Special Warfare Task Unit ( NSWTU ) commander NSWTU - Wasp under commander Amphibious Task Group 185 . 2 ; and then as commander NSWTU - America under CTF60 . Brown commanded Naval Special Warfare Unit FOUR , Puerto Rico , under U . S . Southern Command from 1999 - 2001 . Brown ’ s other assignments include the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict , United States Special Operations Command , and Navy section chief , U . S . Military Advisory Group El Salvador . In 2002 Brown reported to the Directorate of Operations of the Joint Staff , Deputy Directorate Special Operations , and served as the Global War on Terrorism branch chief until September 2005 . He was then assigned as assistant chief of staff for Ops and Plans at Naval Special Warfare Command until June 2007 , when he took command of Naval Special Warfare Group ONE . Prior to commanding SOCSOUTH , Brown served as the deputy commander of Special Operations Command Europe . Taking command of Special Operations Command South On Sept 17 , 2010 , Brown officially took charge of U . S . special operations forces in Latin America as the commander of Special Operations Command South at Homestead Air Reserve Base , Florida . The command is part of U . S . Southern Command , which is based in Miami and oversees U . S . military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean . SOCSOUTH oversees Special Operations Forces including civil affairs and information support teams in Latin America and the Caribbean . The command manages some 300 special operations personnel within 15 countries . SOCSOUTH has a number of assigned forces including Charlie Company , 3rd Battalion of the 7th Special Forces Group ; Naval Special Warfare Detachment South , and Charlie Company of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment . One of Brown ' s first duties as SOCSOUTH commander was to host the Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program ( CTFP ) Conference in Miami , FL on Sept 20 - 24 , 2010 . Education . Brown graduated Tau Beta Pi with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering , and is a distinguished graduate of the Paul H . Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University , where he earned a Master of Arts in International Relations with a concentration in Latin American and Strategic Studies . He also holds a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy and the DoD Chief Information Officer Certificate from the National Defense University . Military awards and decorations . Among Brown ' s military awards and decorations are the following : Badges