Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown was only the second Black general to serve as chairman. (Credit: U.S. Airforce)
By Gary Raynaldo – DIPLOMATIC TIMES
President Trump abruptly fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Friday in a major shakeup of top military leadership. Brown, who was only the second Black general to serve as chairman, appears to be a casualty of the Trump administration’s war on diversity and equity in the military ranks. “I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family,” Trump posted on social media. Brown, the country’s highest-ranking military officer, was fired less than two years into his four-year term. Also fired Friday were James Slife, the vice chief of the Air Force; and the top lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the highest-ranking military officer in the U.S. Armed Forces. Trump announced he is nominating retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman. The president also fired Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the second top female military officer to be terminated by the new administration.
Defense Secretary Hegseth Accused Brown Of Promoting Diversity in Military
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at meeting of NATO Ministers of Defense in Brussels Feb. 13, 2025. (Credit: nato.int)
Trump’s Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made no secret of his anti-DEI sentiment prior to being appointed as Pentagon boss. In an appearance on a podcast last year, Hegseth hinted that Brown should be fired for his so-called “woke” focus on diversity and equity efforts in the military.
“First of all, you’ve got to fire the chairman of the joint chiefs,” Hegseth said during a November interview on the Shawn Ryan Show. “Any general that was involved, general, admiral, or whatever, that was involved in any of that DEI woke shit has got to go.”
In a statement issued after Brown’s firing, defense secretary Hegseth said: “The outgoing Chairman, Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, Jr., USAF, has served with distinction in a career spanning four decades of honorable service. I have come to know him as a thoughtful adviser and salute him for his distinguished service to our country.” Regarding Brown’s replacement, Hegseth stated that Caine “embodies the warfighter ethos and is exactly the leader we need to meet the moment.”
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett Condemns Firing of Gen. Brown
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (TX-30)
Democratic congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Texas blasted the Trump administration’s firing of Brown:
“Instead of focusing on America’s national security, Secretary Hegseth and Trump have fixated on a false belief that diversity in our military is a weakness, not a strength. To be clear, personally criticizing military generals and targeting them for their efforts to expand and diversify our military only undermines our armed forces’ strength and readiness and exacerbates the current unprecedented recruitment and retention challenges we face as a country,” said Representative Crockett.
“Removing General Brown has now jeopardized America’s national security and military readiness, erodes trust in our military as an institution, opens the floodgates of removing countless other military leaders, service members, and civil personnel with years of specialized training and expertise simply because of a false narrative, and will distract our national defense from focusing on critical national security concerns like Russia’s war on Ukraine and North Korea and Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
Brown, a four-star general pilot, became the first Black Joint Chiefs chair in 30 years, since the late Colin Powell held the position in the George H.W. Bush administration. Prior to becoming Chairman on Oct. 1, 2023, Gen. Brown served as the 22nd Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. Brown is a command pilot with more than 3,100 flight hours primarily in the F-16, including 130 combat hours, and has flown 20 additional fixed and rotary-wing aircraft.
