President Trump ousted Air Power Gen. CQ Brown Jr., a President Biden appointee, who served because the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Team of workers on Friday.
“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,” Trump mentioned in a Friday announcement on Fact Social. “He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.”
To switch Brown, a four-star pilot, Trump wrote that he’s nominating Air Power Lt. Gen. John Dan “Razin” Caine to function the following chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Team of workers.
The president lauded Caine as an “accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur and a ‘warfighter’ with significant interagency and special operations experience.”
Caine “embodies the warfighter ethos and is exactly the leader we need to meet the moment. I look forward to working with him,” Protection Secretary Pete Hegeseth mentioned Friday, in a while after Trump’s social media put up.
Right here’s what we learn about Caine
Caine graduated with a bachelor’s level in economics from the Virginia Army Institute in 1990 and were given his grasp’s level in air battle on the American Army College.
The retired lieutenant common, who will want a Senate affirmation, logged greater than 2,800 hours in an F-16 fighter airplane and greater than 150 battle flight hours, in line with his army biography.
Caine used to be additionally a part-time member of the Nationwide Guard from 2009 to 2016, along side being a “serial” investor and entrepreneur.
He labored on the CIA from 2021 to 2024 because the affiliate director for army affairs. Sooner than his time on the CIA, Caine served because the director of particular systems on the Division of Protection (DOD) particular get right of entry to program central place of job on the Pentagon. There, he used to be the most important personnel assistant and guide to the protection secretary “for all programs protected under special access controls.”
He held a number of roles whilst within the Air Power, together with as a F-16 pilot, particular operations officer, guns officer and a member of the White Space personnel, in line with his army biography.
Trump met Caine for the primary time in 2018. Caine left a powerful affect at the then-first-term commander-in-chief, telling him that ISIS might be annihilated in a single week.
“Sir, we can have it totally finished in one week,” Trump recounted Caine announcing on the 2019 Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC).
On the time, Caine advised Trump the U.S. used to be “only hitting them from a temporary base in Syria. But if you gave us permission, we could hit them from the back, from the side, from all over — from the base that you’re right on, right now, sir. They won’t know what the hell hit them,” in line with Trump.
Trump discussed Caine all over his FII PRIORITY Summit speech previous this week in Miami, telling the group that he’s a “real general, not a television general.”
Caine, who were given to the rank of lieutenant common in 2021, will likely be moved as much as the rank of common if showed by means of the higher chamber. He would then serve a four-year time period. The previous fighter pilot has already accumulated some give a boost to amongst Senate Republicans.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a Trump best friend, mentioned Friday evening that he’s going to “gladly help lead the effort to confirm” Caine.
Caine recounted when he used to be leader of guns and techniques for the 121st Fighter Squadron at Andrews Air Power Base all over the 9/11, 2001 terrorist assaults.
“We jumped in the airplanes and started them up. As my plane came to life, the generators came on-line, and the radios were going ballistic,” Caine mentioned in a 2023 mirrored image that used to be posted at the CIA web site. On the time, he used to be a CIA senior officer.
“People on the emergency channels were saying, ‘Anybody around Washington, D.C. will be shot down.’ I remembered thinking to myself, ‘Wait. That’s me that will be shooting,’” he added. “The weapons were loaded on my airplane so we’d have the 20-millimeter gun and two heat-seeking missiles. I was airborne for about 7.5-8 hours that day.”
Caine has additionally labored within the non-public sector. He’s recently a spouse at Ribbid Capital, a challenge capital company based in Silicon Valley and a spouse at Protect Capital, in line with his LinkedIn. He’s additionally at the board of Voyager House, an area and protection company and an guide for Thrive Capital.
A senior U.S. reputable, who has labored with Caine for over 10 years, advised Reuters that Caine “places the venture and troops above politics. He isn’t a political man.”
Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., who used to be the top of Central Command (CENTCOM) till April 2022, additionally praised Caine, telling The New York Instances that he’s an “exceptionally proficient officer.”
