A native of Columbus, Ohio, Colonel Brown is a 1995 graduate of Swarthmore College.  He was commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps in August 1996 and was designated an aviator in February 2000 after flight training in Pensacola, Florida and Meridian, Mississippi. 

Colonel Brown has served as an F/A-18 pilot in the operating forces with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (All Weather) 224, as the Operations Officer of Marine Aircraft Group 12, and as the Commanding Officer of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115.  In the supporting establishment, he completed a tour as an F/A-18 instructor pilot with Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One.  His staff assignments include Deputy Branch Head of Aviation Manpower Support at Headquarters Marine Corps Aviation; Senior Aide to the 37th Commandant of the Marine Corps; Deputy Director of the Programs, Analysis, and Evaluation Division of Headquarters Marine Corps Programs and Resources; and the Command Inspector General of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.  Colonel Brown’s joint assignments include two tours as a Fire Support Officer and Forward Air Controller with a Special Operations Joint Task Force, deploying to Afghanistan and other contingency locations. 

Colonel Brown was selected as the 2017-18 Commandant of the Marine Corps Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Security Studies Program.  In addition, he is a graduate of the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course and the Joint Combined Warfighting School, Joint Forces Staff College.