The Justice Department announced Wednesday that a former U.S. Air Force major and longtime fighter pilot has been arrested on charges that he trained Chinese military pilots without authorization.
Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., 65, was taken into custody in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and is expected to appear in federal court on Thursday. Prosecutors allege that beginning around August 2023, Brown worked to arrange combat aircraft training for members of China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force and traveled to China in December 2023 to carry it out.
Federal officials were blunt.
“The United States Air Force trained Major Brown to be an elite fighter pilot and entrusted him with the defense of our Nation. He now stands charged with training Chinese military pilots.”