Bryan D. “Doug” Brown

General Bryan "Doug" Brown is the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. USSOCOM is responsible for all Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps Special Operations Forces and is the lead for planning and synchronizing the Global War on Terror. | General Brown entered the Army in 1967 as a private in the infantry. He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course and then served on a Special Forces A Team at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After graduating from Officer Candidate School and Flight School, General Brown was assigned to the 129th Aviation Company in the Republic of Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. | General Brown commanded three times at the company level: Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery, Camp Pelham, Republic of Korea; C Company, 158th Aviation Battalion, and C Company, 160th Special Operations Aviation Group (Airborne) both at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He commanded two battalions, 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Kentucky. General Brown then commanded the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). | As a general officer, he served as Assistant Division Commander (Maneuver), 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Riley, Kansas, and returned to Special Operations as the Director of Plans, Policy and Strategic Assessments at U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. General Brown then assumed command of Joint Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and later U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. | During his career, he has been involved in combat operations in Vietnam, Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada), Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and others. | General Brown is the senior aviator in the U.S. Army and has more than 4,400 hours of flight time in both fixed and rotary winged aircraft. He is the first member of the Army’s Aviation Branch to be promoted to the rank of four-star General. | His military education and training includes: Airborne School, Special Forces Qualification Course, Field Artillery Officer Advance Course, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the United States Army War College. General Brown is also a graduate of the Harvard Executive Education Program’s National and International Security Managers Course. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in History from Cameron University and a Master’s Degree in Business from Webster University. | His awards and decorations include: Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with V Device, Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. He also wears the Special Forces Tab, Master Army Aviator Badge, Military Free Fall Parachutist Badge and the Air Assault Badge. General Brown is also a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.