The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Gen. Charles Q. Brown to be the next Air Force chief of staff, making him the first African American leader of military service.
Vice President Mike Pence presided over the historic 98-0 vote to confirm Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to be chief of staff of the Air Force, a vote that came in the wake of the nationwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice following the death of George Floyd.
The confirmation also makes Brown the second African American officer to sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff since Chairman Gen. Colin Powell.
President Donald Trump, who nominated Brown in March, hailed the general in a statement via his Twitter page.
He tweeted “My decision to appoint @usairforce General Charles Brown as the USA’s first-ever African American military service chief has now been approved by the Senate,” Trump said, though the tweet came before the confirmation vote. “A historic day for America! Excited to work even more closely with Gen. Brown, who is a Patriot and Great Leader!”
Brown, a four-star general and former combat pilot is currently the commander of Pacific Air Forces, a command which supports approximately 46,000 airmen serving mainly in South Korea, Japan, Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska.