A former US Air Force officer, Gerald Eddie Brown Jr., 65, known as “Runner,” has been arrested in Jeffersonville, Indiana. He is accused of training Chinese military pilots without authorization, violating the Arms Export Control Act. Brown, a former F-35 Lightning II instructor pilot, allegedly provided combat aircraft training to Chinese Air Force pilots since August 2023.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg expressed concern over the situation, stating that providing training to a foreign military without proper authorization is illegal. Brown, who served over 24 years in the Air Force, left active duty in 1996 as a Major. He flew advanced fighter jets like the F-4 “Phantom II,” F-15 “Eagle,” F-16 “Fighting Falcon,” and A-10 “Thunderbolt II.”
The FBI’s Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division condemned Brown’s actions, accusing him of betraying his country by training Chinese pilots against whom he swore to protect. Brown allegedly collaborated with a co-conspirator to negotiate training Chinese military pilots, without the necessary license from the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
Brown traveled to China in December 2023 to commence pilot training and returned to the US in early February 2026. The charges against Brown follow similar allegations against another former US Marine Corps pilot, Daniel Edmund Duggan, who was charged in 2017 for providing unauthorized defense services to Chinese military pilots.
