AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr. as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Officials said he will succeed Army Gen. Mark Milley, whose term is set to expire Sept. 30.

According to the press release, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest-ranking military officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, the principal military advisor to the president, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and the secretary of defense.

Officials stated that as head of the Air Force, Brown became the first black chief of a military service branch and the first black officer on the Joint Chiefs of Staff since Army Gen. Colin Powell served as its chairman from 1989 to 1993.

“I’ve had several opportunities where I was the ‘first African American to be…,” Brown said in a 2020 interview with Texas Tech. “No different than my current position, each of these opportunities includes added pressure to perform, so I’m not the ‘first and last African American’ or member of a diverse background to have this opportunity, and to prove my selection was due to the content of my character and my resume of experience, not due to any perceived reduction in standards to ensure diversity.”

Brown has served in various positions at the squadron and wing levels, including an assignment to the U.S. Air Force Weapons School as an F-16 Fighting Falcon Instructor.

Brown also served as the chief of the U.S. Air Force since 2020, the same year he was named one of TIME magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People.’

Brown said, like all other military members, he always wanted a fair shot to compete for an opportunity. Despite the challenges, Brown has a longstanding conviction that every day is a good day, and some days are better than others.

According to officials, Brown was commissioned in 1984 as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program at Texas Tech, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, and was named a distinguished alumnus of the university in 2012.