President Donald Trump suddenly fired Air Force CQ Brown as chairman of the co-status chief on Friday, and as part of a campaign to drive the army away from the military, stolen bystanding history-making fighter pilots and respected officers. Ranked as part of a campaign to drive away leaders who support diversity and equity.
Brown's exile was the only Black General to chair, and there is no doubt that he would send shockwaves through the Pentagon.
His 16 months in his work were consumed by wars in Ukraine and expanded conflicts in the Middle East.
“General Charles' CQ' General Brown thanked us for over 40 years of service to our country. He is a great gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I am a great for him and his family. I hope for the future,” Trump said. Posted on social media.
Trump says he is nominating Air Force Lieutenant General “Razin” Kane as the next chairman.
According to his official military biographies, Kane is a career F-16 pilot who served in the active duty and National Guard and recently served as the CIA's Associate Director of Military Affairs.
Brown spent the day at the US-Mexican border and assessed the rapid accumulation of military forces to meet Trump's executive orders to counter illegal immigration.
Trump acted despite his support for Brown among key members of Congress and his seemingly friendly encounter with him in mid-December.
Brown met regularly with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses, who took over the top job for the Pentagon just four weeks ago.
However, Brown's future was raised questioning last month at a confirmation hearing by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Asked if he would fire the brown, Heggs responded frankly, “All senior officers will be reviewed based on merit, criteria, lethality and commitment to the legal order they are given.” .
Hegseth has embraced Trump's efforts to end programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusive inclusion and fire people who reflect those values.
Hegseth had previously been aiming for Brown.
“First of all, you have to fire, you know, you have to fire the co-headed chairman,” he said entirely on his November podcast. And in one of his books, he questioned whether Brown got a job because he was black.
“Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We never know, but it's always doubtful. But he made the race card one of his biggest calling cards. , that's not that important,” writes Hegses.
However, when he entered the Pentagon on the first day as defence chief on January 27th, Hegses was asked directly whether he was planning to fire Brown.
“I'm standing with him now,” Hegses said.
“I look forward to working with him.”
Trump in his second term claimed his executive body in a much stronger way, removing most carryover officials from President Joe Biden's term, but in a typical transition, he said these Many positions are intended to carry over from one government to the next independently.
A career F-16 fighter pilot with over 3,000 flight times and command experiences at all levels, Brown is known as a modest yet determined leader with a track record of driving change in the system .
His choice as chairman was seen as key to pushing the military from 20 years of war in the Middle East to focus on preparing and deterring potential conflicts with China.
To become the Air Force chief in June 2020 just before the Senate confirmation vote, Brown attracted some attention when he spoke about George Floyd's police murder the previous month.
He knew it was dangerous, but he had argued with his wife and sons about his murder and he was convinced he needed to say something.
As the protests shook the nation, Brown posted a video message to the Air Force, entitled “Here is what I'm thinking.”
He explained the pressure that comes with being one of the few black men in his unit.
He recalls pushing himself to “perform an error” as a pilot, and spends his life as a pilot and officer, but still faces bias.
He said he was questioned about his qualifications, even when he wore the same flight suit and wings as all the other pilots.
“I think about my mentors and things that rarely have been mentors that looked like me,” Brown said in the video.
“I'm thinking about how my appointment offers hope, but it also comes with a heavy burden. We can't fix centuries of racism in our country, and we're not going to do anything about it. We can't even fix the decades of discrimination that could have affected Air Force members.”
Brown was overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate 98-0.
Shortly afterwards, his name began to surface as a successor to General Mark Millie, who was scheduled to retire as chairman.
Brown's path to becoming chairman was plagued. He was one of more than 260 senior military officers whose nominations were stagnant for months by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Tuberville sparked anger in the Senate, and organizational juggling at the Pentagon paid for the trip when service members had to go out of state to receive abortion or other reproductive care. I protested and blocked confirmation.
However, when the Senate vote finally took place in September 2023, Brown was easily confirmed by a 89-8 vote.
As chairman, Brown spent much time in wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, deciding what kind of military aid to send to Kiev, fighting Hamas and fighting several important attacks from Iran to Israel. We coordinated the support for the
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Brown comes from a family of Army soldiers.
His grandfather led an army unit isolated in World War II, and his father was an artillery officer and a veteran of the Vietnam War.
Brown grew up in several military bases, which helped him instill a sense of mission.
It has been 30 years since Colin Powell became the first black president, and he worked from 1989 to 1993.
However, African Americans accounted for 17.2% of the 1.3 million active duty veterans, but only 9% of police officers were black, according to a 2021 Department of Defense report.
Brown's service as chairman made history in that it was the first time that both Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin and Co-Chief Chairman were black.
