A former U.S. Air Force major who once flew F-35 fighter jets has been arrested in Indiana on charges he traveled to China to train military pilots without authorization, betraying decades of service and the country he had sworn to defend.
Gerald Brown, 65, known during his flying career by the call sign “Runner,” was taken into custody Wednesday and now faces criminal charges for allegedly providing defense services to Chinese aviators in violation of U.S. export control laws. Federal prosecutors say he spent more than a year in China training pilots before returning to American soil earlier this month.
Brown’s 24-year Air Force career included combat missions, command of sensitive units tied to nuclear weapons delivery systems, and assignments as an F-35 instructor pilot.
After leaving the service in 1996, he worked as a commercial cargo pilot before transitioning into defense contracting, where he trained U.S. pilots on F-35 and A-10 aircraft.
Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, described the case as a betrayal of trust. “The Chinese government continues to exploit the expertise of current and former members of the US armed forces to modernise China’s military capabilities. This arrest serves as a warning,” he said in a statement.
Brown allegedly arrived in China in December 2023 to begin training work and remained there until early February 2026.
His contract was arranged through Stephen Su Bin, a Chinese national who was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges tied to hacking a U.S. defense contractor and stealing military secrets for China.
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U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia said Brown and “anyone conspiring against our Nation” would face consequences for their actions. She did not elaborate on the scope of the investigation or indicate whether additional individuals might be implicated.
The charges Brown now faces mirror those brought against Daniel Duggan, a former U.S. Marine Corps pilot arrested in Australia in 2022. Duggan is currently fighting extradition to the United States, where he stands accused of violating the Arms Export Control Act by providing pilot training to Chinese military personnel.
Duggan, 57, became an Australian citizen and had lived in China since 2014. He was arrested by Australian authorities shortly after returning from China. In October of last year, he appeared in an Australian court to challenge an extradition order approved in December 2024 by then Attorney General Mark Dreyfus.
Christopher Parkin, Duggan’s lawyer, argued during those proceedings that his client’s extradition represented “uncharted territory” for Australia. He contended the conduct in question was not an offense under Australian law at the time it occurred or when the extradition request was filed, failing to meet the dual criminality requirement in the extradition treaty between Canberra and Washington.
Western governments have grown increasingly vocal about China’s efforts to recruit retired military personnel from allied nations. In 2024, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States jointly published a warning that China was actively seeking to hire current and former members of their armed forces, as well as NATO military personnel, to gain access to Western tactical knowledge and operational expertise.
“The insight the PLA gains from Western military talent threatens the safety of the targeted recruits, their fellow service members, and US and allied security,” the notice stated. It also cautioned that individuals providing unauthorized training or expertise to foreign militaries could face civil and criminal penalties.
The Justice Department has not disclosed whether Brown cooperated with investigators or whether he has retained legal counsel. No court date has been announced, and prosecutors have not indicated what sentence Brown could face if convicted.
Violations of the Arms Export Control Act can carry substantial prison terms depending on the nature of the services provided and the level of harm to national security.
Brown’s arrest adds to a growing list of cases involving former military aviators accused of leveraging their specialized skills for financial gain by working with adversarial governments.
The Pentagon has expressed concern that such activities undermine U.S. tactical advantages and expose operational weaknesses that could be exploited in future conflicts.