‘A Proud, Butt-Kicking American Airman’: Biden Introduces Brown as Decide for Chairman

It’s official: President Joe Biden has picked an Airman to be his prime army adviser.

At 1:52 pm on Could 25, Biden walked out of the West Wing and into the Rose Backyard alongside Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to formally announce he’s nominating the Air Drive Chief of Workers to develop into the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers.

Introducing Brown to many People who might not know him, Biden had a easy message:

“Gen. Brown is a proud, butt-kicking American Airman.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Protection Lloyd J. Austin III stood beside the 2 males as Biden went on to put out the explanations he chosen Brown after months of anticipation.

“Gen. Brown’s a warrior descended from a proud line of warriors,” Biden advised the group, which included service chiefs and Protection Division leaders. “He is aware of what it means to be within the thick of battle and learn how to maintain your cool when issues get laborious.”

Biden then recounted one episode that illustrates Brown’s calm and measured demeanor.

In 1991, Brown was flying an F-16 that caught fireplace over the Florida Everglades. Pressured to eject, he landed removed from civilization at the hours of darkness of night time, Brown beforehand recounted to Air & House Forces Journal.

“That’s lots of enjoyable, huh?” Biden mentioned. “Effectively, I inform you what he was again within the cockpit the subsequent week with a brand new name signal, ‘Swamp Thang.’”

Brown has 3,000 hours of flying expertise, together with 130 fight hours. The son and grandson of veterans, Brown has command expertise within the Center East, Europe, and, maybe most significantly, the Indo-Pacific. Previous to assuming his present function, Brown was the commander of the Pacific Air Forces.

“He performs to win and that’s apparent,” Biden mentioned. “That mindset goes to be an unlimited asset to me as commander-in-chief and to the USA of America as we navigate challenges within the coming years.”

Brown is ready to switch Military Gen. Mark A. Milley, topic to affirmation by the Senate. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs doesn’t command any troops however serves because the president’s prime army advisor. Brown’s expertise within the Pacific, the place the Air Drive is quickly adapting to function higher in, stood out to Biden, the president mentioned.

By way of his profession, Brown “gained the respect of our allies and companions around the globe who regard Gen. Brown as a trusted accomplice and a top-notch strategist,” Biden added.

In a roughly 15-minute speech, Biden praised Brown’s efforts to modernize the Air Drive for a near-peer struggle and praised the way in which Brown has articulated the necessity to assume in a different way.

“Over the previous three years as chief of employees of the Air Drive, Normal Brown has develop into recognized for his signature method, Speed up Change or Lose,” Biden mentioned.

“Speed up Change or Lose,” Biden repeated for emphasis. “Normal, you’re proper on. As I’ve typically mentioned, our world is at an inflection level the place the choices we make at this time are going to find out the course of our world for many years to return.”

Secretary of the Air Drive Frank Kendall, who has long-praised Brown as a like-minded thinker, appeared on with a smile.

Milley addressed reporters on the Pentagon earlier than the Rose Backyard occasion after a gathering of the Ukraine Protection Contact Group and mentioned Brown had “all of the data, abilities, and attributes” wanted to function Chairman.

“C.Q. is completely very good,” Milley added.

In a lighthearted second, Milley and different senior army leaders took a bunch photograph after the occasion—save for Brown, who adopted Biden, Harris, and Austin again into the West Wing.

“We’ll photoshop C.Q. in,” Milley quipped.

Brown loved robust assist within the Senate when he was nominated for Air Drive chief, getting confirmed in a 98-0 vote. And whereas Sen. Tommy Tuberville is presently blocking unanimous consent votes on senior army promotions due to his objection to the Division of Protection’s coverage that funds out-state-travel for individuals who search an abortion, Brown’s new nomination may go to an up-or-down roll name vote, as Milley was when he was accepted 89-1 in 2019.

“C.Q. is a fearless chief and an unyielding patriot,” Biden mentioned. “I urge the Senate to as soon as once more affirm Gen. Brown with the identical overwhelming bipartisan assist for his new function as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers.”

Biden’s announcement got here on the third anniversary of the homicide of George Floyd by the hands of law enforcement officials, which sparked nationwide protests. The president additionally famous the nation is developing on the seventy fifth anniversary of the desegregation of the army.

If confirmed by the Senate now, Brown can be the second Black service member to function Chairman, following Military Gen. Colin Powell, who served as chairman from 1989 to 1993.

The George Floyd protests unfolded as Brown was nonetheless awaiting affirmation to develop into the primary Black Air Drive Chief of Workers, and he launched a forceful video on the time recounting his experiences as a Black fighter pilot and officer.

“I’m fascinated by the stress I felt to carry out error-free, particularly for supervisors I perceived had anticipated much less from me as an African-American,” Brown mentioned within the video. “I’m fascinated by having to symbolize by working twice as laborious to show their expectations and perceptions of African People have been invalid.”

Biden praised the forceful nature of Brown’s message on the time after Floyd’s killing.

“It took actual spine, and it struck a chord not solely with our army members however with People all throughout the nation,” Biden mentioned.

The president mentioned he may depend on Brown to be “a considerate, deliberate chief who’s unafraid to talk his thoughts, as somebody who will ship an sincere message that must be heard, and who will at all times do the precise factor when it’s laborious.”

“That’s the primary high quality a President wants in a Chairman,” Biden mentioned.

If confirmed by the Senate, Brown will succeed solely the fifth Airman within the 73-year historical past of the job and the primary since Gen. Richard Myers stepped down in 2005.