--- description: Find out why General Charles Q. Brown Jr is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: General Charles Q. Brown Jr: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb59448540a6e2a37/698a1248b21a9c60cb504070/time-100-Charles-Q-Brown-Jr.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 23, 2020 # General Charles Q. Brown Jr by Heather Wilson  Charles Q. Brown, Jr., nominated for reappointment to the grade of General and to Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee nominations hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 7, 2020\. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP) Charles Q. Brown, Jr., nominated for reappointment to the grade of General and to Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee nominations hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 7, 2020\. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)Kevin Dietsch—Pool/AP On Aug. 6, the day he made history by becoming the nation’s [first Black chief of a military service](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/the-new-air-force-chief-wasnt-sure-how-to-address-george-floyds-killing-then-he-talked-to-his-son/2020/08/19/f7c63e24-de3c-11ea-b4af-72895e22941d%5Fstory.html "undefined"), General [Charles “CQ” Brown Jr.](https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/108485/general-charles-q-brown-jr/ "undefined") made sure that proper attention was given to service members who never got the chance for career advancement simply because of the color of their skin. “It is due to their trials and tribulations in breaking barriers that I can address you today as the Air Force chief of staff,” Brown said after being sworn in. The smiles on the faces of the surviving members of the [Tuskegee Airmen, an all-Black unit of fighter pilots in World War II](https://time.com/3744480/tuskegee-airmen-history/ "undefined"), were matched only by those of the 19-year-olds who now know the sky’s not the limit in today’s [Air Force](https://time.com/tag/air-force/ "undefined"). He is a respected warfighter who will serve America well. As the former commander of Pacific Air Forces, he’s highly qualified to deter China and reassure allies in the Indo-Pacific. The suppression of ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria was largely accomplished by local forces on the ground, enabled by air power CQ helped orchestrate. CQ has opened doors throughout his career and made sure that they have stayed open for those who follow. Meeting the challenges of this time will require visionary leadership. CQ has become a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff through competence and character. It’s a model worth following. _Wilson is president of the University of Texas at El Paso and a former Secretary of the Air Force_ General Charles Q. Brown Jr Is on the 2020 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888804/charles-q-brown-jr/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888804/charles-q-brown-jr/"},"headline":"General Charles Q. Brown Jr","datePublished":"2020-09-23T00:32:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:15.503Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888804/charles-q-brown-jr/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Titans"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb59448540a6e2a37/698a1248b21a9c60cb504070/time-100-Charles-Q-Brown-Jr.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb59448540a6e2a37/698a1248b21a9c60cb504070/time-100-Charles-Q-Brown-Jr.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888804/charles-q-brown-jr/","name":"General Charles Q. Brown Jr"}}]}] ```