Background
On May 25, 2023, President Biden nominated General C.Q. Brown to serve as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff–the nation’s highest-ranking military officer. The nomination comes as the current chairman, General Mark. A. Milley, prepares for the end of his term in October. Milley’s tenure as chairman has been disastrous in its own right, accelerating the influence of woke ideology within the ranks of the Armed Forces, the worst recruiting crisis since the all-volunteer military was established,1 and the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, President Biden’s pick for Milley’s successor does not inspire confidence that new leadership will reverse the decline in the quality of America’s military leaders or reorient our national security posture toward emerging threats. Such responsibilities require an unwavering commitment to the defense of the United States and unquestioned competence in that endeavor.
Wrong Man at the Wrong Time
General Brown currently serves as Chief of Staff for the United States Air Force, a position he has held for three years. Predictably, the administration and their allies in the corporate press are touting the fact that, if confirmed, Brown would only be the nation’s second black American, behind Colin Powell, to serve as the President’s top military advisor.2 The focus by progressive activists on General Brown’s race as a key rationale for his nomination–coming on the heels of the Supreme Court’s repudiation of affirmative action–should not go unnoticed. However, it is General Brown’s record of poorly managing the Air Force, along with his full embrace of radical ideologies like Critical Race Theory and Gender Theory, that underscore the perils of his nomination.
General Brown has bragged that he “purposely built” his office with “diversity” as the core priority as opposed to talent, merit, or who would serve the nation best in a particular role–a clear violation of federal civil rights law and an affront to the Constitution. Indeed, General Brown admitted on video that he and his team refuse to engage in a colorblind or meritorious approach to hiring and instead judge candidates for positions in the Air Force through the prism of woke intersectionality–discriminating against candidates based on their race, religion, and biological sex.3 General Brown has also despicably suggested that unless his fingers are on the scale, minorities will only rise up through the ranks through luck and that he intends to “tweak” the screening process to conform with the tenets of the radical equity agenda.4
Following George Floyd’s death, General Brown released a video in which he seemingly targeted his subordinates based on their skin color, dividing Air Force servicemen and women into neo-Marxist categories of oppressed and oppressor predicated on their race and questioning whether some of his subordinates possessed sufficient empathy toward victims of racism.5
On August 9, 2022, General Brown and Under Secretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones signed a memorandum outlining specific officer placement goals based on an individual’s sex and race. Specific quotas were assigned to men and women and parsed out based on the individual’s race to determine what percentage of officers should be white, black, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American.6 General Brown’s signature on such a document proves he assigns little value to merit, talent, and skill in service to one’s nation.
Of all the major service branches, the Air Force has leaned hardest into woke indoctrination. Whether it is attempted drag show performances at Nevada air bases or eliminating the use of the words “mother” and “father” for the sake of “inclusivity,” the result of General Brown’s tenure has been an Air Force that has thus far only hit 50 percent of its recruitment goals for FY 2023 and is falling apart under failed leadership.7
These actions suggest that General Brown is more interested in score-settling and pushing a woke agenda than defending the United States of America.
Further evidence that his nomination imperils Americans is that he has overseen one of the steepest declines in flight proficiency and piloting standards on record. Mission readiness capability metrics remain near all-time lows under General Brown’s leadership.8 His efforts to “diversify the cockpit” have failed repeatedly.9 On General Brown’s watch, the readiness of the F-35 program remains below 60 percent, and the B-2 bomber fleet was grounded for nearly six months –a damning indictment of either his inability or unwillingness to maintain America’s air superiority.10
The Nomination Must Be Opposed
The American people deserve military leadership entirely focused on protecting them, their families, and their nation from emerging threats. The men and women who take an oath to defend their country deserve leaders who see them for the brave, courageous, and uniquely called individuals they are–not as intersectional boxes to be checked in service to a radical and destructive neo-Marxist worldview. At this critical juncture, the United States cannot afford for the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be someone who fails up.
The U.S. Senate should soundly reject General Brown’s nomination. And the Biden administration should consider a candidate committed to defending his country instead of advancing woke dogma. Our men and women in uniform risk their very lives to protect their nation and defend our republic. The highest-ranking military official must possess the character, competence, and seriousness deserving of such sacrifice.
It is, therefore, clear that America’s national security depends on the wholesale rejection of General Brown’s nomination as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Endnotes
1. New York Post Editorial Board (June 11, 2023). “Biden Admin Falling on its Face,” New York Post. https://nypost.com/2023/06/11/biden-admin-falling-on-its-face-the-military-recruitment-crisis-and-other-commentary/
2. Cooper, H. (May 24, 2023). “Biden to Nominate Air Force Chief to Succeed Milley on Thursday,” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/us/politics/charles-q-brown-nominated-joint-chiefs.html
3. Twitter (June 27, 2023). “You Can’t Let It Just Be Happenstance that Brings in the Diversity,” American Accountability Foundation. https://twitter.com/ExposingBiden/status/1673835761727336448
4. Gen. C.Q. Brown (February 11, 2021). “Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Brown Jr. Opens Up About Emotional Talks on Race with His Sons,” People Magazine. https://people.com/human-interest/voices-against-racism-general-charles-q-brown-jr/
5. Twitter (June 27, 2023). “After the Death of George Floyd, Gen Brown Released a Video Ranting Racism.” American Accountability Foundation. https://twitter.com/ExposingBiden/status/1673835779347591170
6. Memorandum for HQ (August 9, 2022). “Officer Source of Commission Applicant Pool Goals,” Department of the U.S. Air Force. https://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents/2022SAF/Officer_Source_of_Commission_Applicant_Pool_Goals_memo.pdf
7. Rep. Mike Waltz (April 4, 2023). “Our Military Is in a Dangerous Decline and This Is the Reason Why,” The Heritage Foundation. https://www.heritage.org/defense/commentary/our-military-dangerous-decline-and-the-reason-why
8. Cohen, R. and Losey, S. (February 14, 2022). “US Air Force Fleet’s Mission-Capable Rates Are Stagnating. Here’s the Plan to Change That,” Air Force Times.
9. Burrow, M. (May 8, 2023). “Exclusive: US Air Force Ran a Social Experiment to Graduate More Minority Pilots. It Didn’t Go as Planned,” The Daily Caller. https://dailycaller.com/2023/05/08/air-force-social-experiment-diversity-minority-discrimination/
10. Saballa, J. (February 14, 2023). “USAF’s F-35 Fleet Suffered Massive Decline in Readiness: Report,” The Defense Post. https://www.thedefensepost.com/2023/02/14/usaf-f35-decline-readiness/
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