Who is General CQ Brown? Know about the newly-appointed chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff

The United States Senate appointed Charles Q Brown Jr. as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday, September 20.

Brown, who goes by CQ, was the first Black service chief in the US military history to become the Air Force Chief in 2020. He has had a historic career by becoming the nation's next most-senior ranking official. He is also only the second Black person to serve as chairman, after General Colin Powell.

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Brown will act as the principal military adviser to President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the National Security Council. His appointment as chairman marks the first time the Defence Secretary and the Joint Chiefs Chairman are both African American.

President Joe Biden nominated Brown in May 2023, describing him as "a warrior, fearless leader and unyielding patriot." However, his nomination got stuck for a month due to the Pentagon nominations by Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville. Ultimately, the Senate voted 83-11 to confirm Brown's nomination.

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Here's everything you need to know about CQ Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Who is General CQ Brown?

According to General CQ Brown's official biography, his first commission came in 1984 from the ROTC Program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. He has commanded a fighter squadron, two fighter wings, US Air Forces Central Command and the US Air Force Weapons School. Moreover, he was an F-16 pilot and served as a wing commander at both Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, and Aviano Air Base, Italy.

Brown has also served as the commander of Pacific Air Forces, the US Indo-Pacific Command's air component. He is a command pilot with more than 3,000 flying hours, including 130 combat hours. Later, he became the Air Force Chief of Staff. The US government has honoured Brown with several medals for his service to the country.

In 2020, he made headlines after releasing a deeply personal video following George Floyd's police killing. In the video, he said, "I'm thinking about the pressure I felt to perform error-free, especially for supervisors I perceived had expected less of me as an African American. I'm thinking about having to represent by working twice as hard to prove their expectations and perceptions of African Americans were invalid."

(With inputs from agencies)

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