Us Arrests Ex-Air Force Pilot For Training Chinese Military

On February 26, 2026, the US Justice Department announced the arrest of Gerald Brown, a 65-year-old former Air Force Major, for allegedly training Chinese military pilots without authorization. Brown, who served for 24 years in the US Air Force and was an instructor for the F-35 Lightning II, is accused of conspiring to provide defense services to the Chinese military. According to Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director at the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, Brown 'allegedly betrayed his country by training Chinese pilots to fight against those he swore to protect.' The arrest serves as a stark warning about the ongoing exploitation of US military expertise by foreign adversaries, particularly China, which is actively modernizing its military capabilities using knowledge from former US service members.