Former Joint Chiefs chairman had ties to Sumter and Shaw

Former Shaw commander ousted month after Tuskegee Airmen material almost scrapped but reinstated to military training courses

President Donald Trump has fired Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., a man with close ties to Sumter, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a position known as the nation's highest-ranking military officer and main adviser to the president, Secretary of Defense and National Security Council.

Commander of the 78th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base from 1999 to 2003, Brown has additional ties to Sumter, having spoken at the 2024 dedication ceremony for Sumter's replica of the P-51 Mustang Red Tail honoring the Tuskegee Airmen near the base at Sumter Veterans Park, according to earlier reporting from The Sumter Item.

"I am in total disagreement with the president and the Secretary of Defense in the firing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," retired Maj. Gen. George Bowman, son of Tuskegee Airman Leroy Bowman, told The Sumter Item. "This is the most knowledgeable, the most decorated combat veteran that we have in the United States government, and he is the most effective leader, which is why he was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Brown was the second African American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was one of three high-ranking military officials Trump fired on Friday, Feb. 21, according to reporting from Associated Press. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Jim Slife were the other two fired along with Brown.

Franchetti was the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"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.

In Brown's place, Trump has nominated Dan "Razin" Caine for the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to a release from the Department of Defense.

"General Caine embodies the warfighter ethos and is exactly the leader we need to meet the moment. I look forward to working with him," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in the DOD release. "The outgoing chairman, Air Force Gen. Charles CQ Brown, Jr., has served with distinction in a career spanning four decades of honorable service. I have come to know him as a thoughtful advisor and salute him for his distinguished service to our country."

This shift comes a month after the Air Force removed training material chronicling the Tuskegee Airmen. Associated Press reported the material was part of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion courses, which Trump's executive orders sought to cut back on.

Sumter's replica of the P-51 Mustang Red Tail was erected in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American pilots, navigators, bombardiers, supply maintenance, support staff and instructors, some of whom were from Sumter County, who were in World War II and played a pivotal role in the desegregation of the United States military.

Since the Tuskegee Airmen educational material's initial removal earlier this year after Trump's inauguration, "the Air Force clarified that the DEI courses had been removed to be edited but that the Tuskegee Airmen and [World War II Women's Airforce Service Pilots] content would continue to be taught," Associated Press reported on Jan. 28.

"They were trying to rewrite history," George Bowman said. "I'm glad they finally came to their senses and put it back in the history book. You just can't take it out. These men fought and died for America, and they developed and displayed a sense of excellence that no other unit has ever seen."

George Bowman said if his father, Leroy Bowman, a Tuskegee Airman from Sumter who died in 2010, were alive today, "he would have a fit," adding that "it's unheard of" for the nation's leaders to be working so closely with someone like Elon Musk.

"For non-veterans and non-citizens making decisions about the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marines," he said, "it's unheard of. It's unheard of."

On Brown's firing, Hegseth was quoted telling Fox News that the "president deserves to pick his key national security advisory team."

Sumter County GOP chairman Bill Oden told The Sumter Item similar.

"If a leader cannot trust those under his command to prosecute his vision and mission, then those individuals need to be replaced," he said, adding that former president Barack Obama and other past presidents had fired military personnel during their terms. "So, with President Trump replacing Gen. Brown as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this is nothing new as we can see by history. ... Our military is not a social experiment; it should be made up of men and women who are fit, dedicated and able to deploy and fight our nation's battles if needed. It must have leaders who share the vision and mission of the commander-in-chief to maintain that lethality that makes our nation strong."

Brown could not be reached for comment. 2024 reporting from The Item quotes him speaking to locals while standing in front of Sumter's replica of the P-51 Mustang Red Tail honoring the Tuskegee Airmen.

"[The Tuskegee Airmen] story [is] about African Americans. What we did for each other. What they did alongside all service members," Brown said during the Feb. 9, 2024, Sumter Veterans Park monument dedication ceremony. "It was an experiment to challenge if African Americans had the aptitude and skill to fly. The Tuskegee Airmen Experiment, designed to fail from the outset, became a testament to the resilience, to the courage and to the capability of those who were part of it."