The Senate Armed Services Committee will hear from Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to consider his nomination to be the service’s 22nd Chief of Staff at 9:30 a.m. EDT on May 7.
The Pacific Air Forces Commander is a decorated combat pilot and has held key leadership positions throughout the world, including in the Indo-Pacom, European, and Middle East theaters. He was aide-de-camp to former CSAF Gen. Ronald Fogleman and was the executive action group director for then-Air Force Secretary Michael Donley.
If confirmed, Brown would become the first African-American Air Force Chief of Staff and replace Gen. David Goldfein, who has led the Air Force since July 2016.
The next Chief must manage an ambitious slate of modernization programs, from new fighters and bombers to nuclear weapons and the Advanced Battle Management System. He will also inherit an ongoing pilot shortage, problems with family housing, and readiness shortfalls that have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just days before Brown was nominated in early March, he sat down for a wide-ranging Air Force Magazine interview, addressing threats from Russia and China, the need for a more agile approach to forward basing, and the growing importance of the Arctic and great power competition.
Check out http://www.airforcemag.com for updated coverage on May 7 as the hearing unfolds.
Editor’s Note: You can read about Brown’s answers to advance policy questions submitted to the committee here, and about his promised measures to enhance USAF readiness here.