President Donald Trump fired Air Force General CQ Brown — a fierce defender of diversity, equity and inclusion policies — as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday. The rather abrupt firing comes as the Pentagon undergoes a long anticipated personnel shuffle.

“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 wrote in a Truth Social post after the firing was announced.

Brown, who has served in the military since 1984, was previously nominated by President Trump to serve as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force in 2020. Upon the retirement of General Mark Milley in 2023, he was appointed as joint chiefs chairman in 2023.

The appointment drew criticism from conservative groups, many of whom pointed to his pro-DEI statements and past support for race-based hiring practices. The American Accountability Foundation listed a number of them when he was nominated by former President Biden in June 2023.

“All of us have to seek out those diverse candidates to bring them in. And that’s what we’re trying to do in the Air Force,” Brown said in a 2020 interview with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “It’s – you almost got to purposely manage some of this. You can’t let it – if you do it by happenstance, we won’t change.”

“I mean, I get so much out of it. I purposely build my office, my front office, and my team with [diversity], and I hire for diversity because they all bring a different perspective,” Brown said.

General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown speaks at Joint Base San Antonio

The comments marked just one of many instances where Brown has voiced support for DEI policies and hiring practices. “The things I think about is not only having diverse, you know, slates of candidates for some key positions, but it’s also that you have to select some of those individuals into those key positions,” Brown said earlier in the interview.

“You can’t let it just be happenstance that brings in diversity, whether it be race, gender, ethnic background, sexual orientation or socio background,” he said, explaining that the military should “identify diverse candidates and ensure that we are grooming them for opportunities.”

Brown made similar comments in a December 2020 virtual town hall, during which he emphasized the need to hire and promote diverse groups “to have opportunities to be in key positions and compete in those positions” and that “there’s aspects of that on the enlisted side based on how we do their promotions as well.”

In a separate interview with The Washington Post, Brown said the Air Force under his command works to “ensure that we have diverse candidates” on lists for panels and boards. “And the last thing I would say on that is how we encourage and mentor some of those diverse candidates because sometimes they may feel like they’re not qualified to put their name in, and we’ve got to actually nudge and pull and actually purposely manage to ensure that we have diverse candidates that can compete,” he added.

In order to replace Brown, the president nominated Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

General Dan Kaine speaksduring a leader development event hosted by Maj. Gen. James W. Ring in January, 2024

Trump praised Kaine for his work during his first term in the White House, which the president described as “instrumental” in the “complete annihilation” of the Islamic State jihadist group after they took control of vast swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria in the mid-2010’s.

“It was done in record setting time, a matter of weeks. Many so-called military ‘geniuses’ said it would take years to defeat ISIS,” the president wrote. “General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered.”

Trump went on to state that despite Kaine’s qualifications and experience, he was passed up for promotion by his predecessor, “Sleepy Joe Biden.”

“But not anymore! Alongside Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Caine and our military will restore peace through strength, put America First, and rebuild our military,” Trump wrote. “Finally, I have also directed Secretary Hegseth to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon.”

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