George Scratchley Brown George Scratchley Brown ( 17 August 1918 – 5 December 1978 ) was a United States Air Force general who served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . In this capacity , he served as the senior military adviser to the President of the United States , the National Security Council and the Secretary of Defense . Through the commanders of the unified and specified commands , he was also responsible for executing the decisions of the National Command Authorities regarding worldwide readiness and employment of combat forces of the United States Army , Navy , Air Force and Marine Corps . Early life . George Scratchley Brown was born in Montclair , New Jersey , on 17 August 1918 , the son of Thoburn Kaye Brown , an Army officer who had graduated with the West Point class of 1913 , and his wife Francis Katherine née Scratchley . As an Army brat , Brown lived in a succession of different towns and military bases . He was an Eagle Scout , and played on the American football varsity team as a freshman at Fort Brown , Texas . He later was a fullback during his junior and senior years at Immaculata High School in Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , and was an all - league in the Catholic high school interstate league . Both Brown and his younger brother Tim set their sights on attending West Point , but their father advised taking a year of college first . Therefore , after graduating from high school in 1936 , Brown enrolled in engineering at the University of Missouri where he joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon . A fine horseman , he played polo . He also enlisted in the 128th Field Artillery Battalion of the Missouri National Guard , rising to the rank of corporal . His father was able to secure a congressional appointment to the United States Military Academy from Kansas for him , and Brown entered on 1 July 1937 . At West Point , Brown once again played polo , and was captain of the team in his senior year , when the West Point team lost in the final to Princeton University . In that year he was also cadet captain and regimental adjutant . He would have liked to have joined the cavalry on graduation like his father , but his standing as 342nd in his class was too low for an appointment to the cavalry . Instead , he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry on graduation on 11 June 1941 . However , he volunteered for Air Corps training . At West Point he met Alice ( Skip ) Calhoun . An Army brat like himself , Alice met George at a party her father had thrown for the sons of the graduates of the class of 1913 . George and Alice dated for over a year , and were married in 1942 . Their marriage produced three children , two boys and a girl . World War II . Brown commenced his basic flight training in Fairchild PT - 19 s at Pine Bluff , Arkansas on 20 August 1941 . He then went to Randolph Field , Texas , for the second phase of his training . The third and final phase was completed at Kelly Field , Texas , where he received his pilot ' s wings on 7 March 1942 . He officially transferred to the Air Corps on 4 April , and was promoted to first lieutenant on 18 June . His first assignment after flight training was at Barksdale Field , Louisiana , where , as a member of the 344th Bombardment Squadron of the 93d Bombardment Group , he flew Consolidated B - 24 Liberator . Moving with the organization to Fort Myers , Florida , he flew both antisubmarine patrol and conventional bomber training aircraft . In August 1942 he flew with the 93d Bombardment Group to England , where it became the first B - 24 group to join the Eighth Air Force . He served in various positions with the group , including commander of the 329th Bombardment Squadron , group operations officer and group executive officer . He was promoted to captain on 20 October , major on 13 February 1943 , and lieutenant colonel on 27 August 1943 . High casualties and the rapid expansion of the Air Force paved the way for fast promotion , which Brown ' s superiors felt was deserved due to his outstanding performance in combat and leadership skills . Perhaps no one was as surprised at his rapid advance in rank as his father , now a brigadier general , who was serving in North Africa at the time Brown arrived there with the 93d Bombardment Group when it was temporarily detached from the Eighth Air Force . The elder Brown wanted to know " What ' s a young whippersnapper like you doing as a colonel ? ! " It was as executive officer that he took part in Operation Tidal Wave , the low - level bombing raid against oil refineries at Ploieşti , Romania , on 1 August 1943 . The 93d Bombardment Group was the second of five B - 24 groups that raided Ploieşti from a temporary base at Benghazi , Libya . It flew directly into heavy defenses to attack three of the six target refineries . The lead plane , flown by the group commander , Lieutenant Colonel Addison Baker , was shot down . Brown took over the command of the battered 93d and led it through the attack on the target and the journey back to Benghazi . He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on that mission . For his services in combat in the skies over Europe , he was also awarded the Silver Star , two Distinguished Flying Crosses , three Air Medal s , the French Croix de guerre with palm and the British Distinguished Flying Cross . Brown was appointed assistant operations officer , 2d Air Division on 8 April 1944 . He was promoted to colonel on 1 October 1944 . Having completed the required 25 missions , he was rotated back to the United States on 9 November 1944 . Alice was shocked to discover " that guy of mine had in fact requested another overseas assignment . He was so gung ho that he had come home , checked on me , and without my knowing it , put in to go back for another tour . " However , the Air Force turned down the request . On 27 January 1945 , Brown became Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff A - 3 with the Air Training Command at Fort Worth , Texas . Cold War . In February 1946 , Brown was posted to the Operations Division of the Air Training Command at Barksdale Field , Louisiana , where he served under Major General Alvin C . Kincaid and his Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations , Brigadier General Thomas C . Darcy . For the first time , Brown received a mediocre effectiveness report . In December 1946 he joined Headquarters Air Defense Command at Mitchel Field , New York , as assistant to Air Chief of Staff , Operations , and later as chief of its ROTC branch . On 1 July 1947 he became assistant deputy for operations . Brown became commander of the 62d Troop Carrier Group at McChord Air Force Base , Washington , on 17 July 1950 . This group operated Douglas C - 124 Globemaster II and Fairchild C - 119 Flying Boxcar aircraft between the West Coast and Japan . With the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 , this mission acquired great importance . In July 1951 he assumed command of the 56th Fighter Interceptor Wing at Selfridge Air Force Base , Michigan , part of the Air Defense Command , although he had never flown fighters before . He learned to fly the Lockheed T - 33 Shooting Star , North American F - 86 Sabre and Lockheed F - 94 Starfire . On 1 January 1952 Brown became Assistant Director of Operations of the Fifth Air Force in South Korea . He became Director on 15 July 1952 . Brown returned to the United States where he assumed command of the 3525th Pilot Training Wing at Williams Air Force Base , Arizona , on 6 June 1953 . He entered the National War College in August 1956 . It was the first and only service school he attended after graduating from West Point . After graduation in June 1957 , he served as executive to the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force , General Thomas D . White . Brown was promoted to brigadier general in August 1959 . He was selected to be military assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense , Thomas S . Gates Jr . , and then to the new Secretary of Defense , Robert MacNamara , with the rank of major general . Brown became commander of the Eastern Transport Air Force at McGuire Air Force Base , New Jersey , in August 1963 . In September 1964 , he was selected to organize and command Joint Task Force 2 , a Joint Chiefs of Staff unit formed at Sandia Base , New Mexico , to the test weapon systems of all the military services in order to avoid wasteful duplication of effort . It was staffed by personnel of all three services . In May 1966 he became the Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , General Earle G . Wheeler , on the recommendation of his predecessor in the role , Lieutenant General Andrew Goodpaster . Brown was promoted to the same rank on 1 August 1966 . The preoccupation of the Joint Chiefs at this time was the Vietnam War , but he was also involved in the handling of the " Pueblo " crisis . On 1 August 1968 , Brown assumed command of the Seventh Air Force and also became deputy commander for air operations , U . S . Military Assistance Command Vietnam , with the rank of general . As Seventh Air Force Commander , he was responsible for all Air Force combat air strike , air support and air defense operations in Southeast Asia . In his MACV position , he advised on all matters pertaining to tactical air support and coordinated the Republic of Vietnam and United States air operations in the MACV area of responsibility . According to Goodpaster , Brown and MACV commander General Creighton Abrams " were like two brothers " . General George F . Keegan felt that : Brown ' s tour of Vietnam ended in September 1970 , and he became Commander , Air Force Systems Command , with headquarters at Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland . This job involved handling a number of troublesome projects , including the F - 111 . Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and later life . On the recommendation of the Secretary of the Air Force , Robert Seamans , President Richard Nixon appointed Brown to be Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force , effective 1 August 1973 . When the Arab - Israeli War of 1973 broke out in October 1973 , Brown realized that the Israeli Air Force would quickly run short of consumables like bombs and ammunition . Without waiting for approval from the Secretary of Defense , he ordered two squadrons of F - 4 Phantom s with Electronic Counter Measures capability be delivered to Israel , along with 100 , 000 tons of bombs and ammunition . Keegan believed that without Brown , " the supplies would never have reached Israel . " However , he did not remain Chief of Staff for long . He was appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff effective 1 July 1974 . As Chairman , Brown was responsible for the handling of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 , and the " Mayaguez " incident , the final act of the war in Vietnam in 1975 . He also dealt with the 1976 shootings and Axe Murder Incident in the Korean Demilitarized Zone , and oversaw the Panama Canal Treaty in 1977 . During his term as Chairman , Brown commented on two occasions – firstly to a Duke University audience in October 1974 , and then to a French reporter in 1976 – that Israel was becoming a burden to The Pentagon and that he believed the reason for continual military aid was due to Jews having control over America ' s banks , newspapers and elected officials . His exact words were : Brown ' s comments at Duke and subsequent reprimand by President Gerald Ford were reported on the front page of " The Washington Post " on 13 and 14 November 1974 . There was speculation that Brown would be asked to resign , or at least not be nominated for a second two year term ; but he was renominated and went on to serve under the new president , Jimmy Carter . Brown was known for the directness of his speech , which sometimes offended those around him . Asked to comment in an interview for " Newsweek " on his opinion of the British Armed Forces , Brown replied , " They ' re no longer a world power . All they ' ve got are generals , admirals and bands . " Reaction in Britain was mixed . Some , like Lord Allenby condemned Brown ' s remarks , while others , like Lord Monckton acknowledged the truth of the remarks . Brown also said that Israel was a " burden " to the United States , and predicted that Iran would become an important military power in the Middle East . Brown was diagnosed with prostate cancer and retired due to ill health on 21 June 1978 . He died at the Malcolm Grow Air Force Hospital at Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland , on 5 December 1978 , and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery , not far from Creighton Abrams . He was survived by his wife and three children .