Former U.S. Air Force pilot and instructor Gerald Eddie Brown, Jr., 65, was arrested in Indiana on Wednesday for allegedly training Chinese military pilots, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to the Justice Department, Brown, a former U.S. Air Force Major with more than two decades of experience in nuclear delivery systems and military aircraft, including advanced F-35 stealth jets, has been charged with “providing and conspiring to provide” defense services to China’s military without authorization, violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA).

According to the complaint, since at least August 2023, Brown knowingly conspired with foreign nationals to provide combat aircraft training to pilots in the Chinese Air Force. In his communications, he repeatedly expressed his intent to train Chinese military pilots in combat aircraft operations.

In December 2023, Brown traveled to China to begin training China’s military pilots. On his first day, he spent three hours answering questions about the U.S. Air Force, and on the second day, he prepared and delivered a personal briefing for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. Brown stayed in China until returning to the U.S. in early February 2026.

“When U.S. persons – whether military or civilian – provide training to a foreign military, that activity is illegal unless they have a license from the State Department,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.

“Providing U.S. military training to our adversaries represents a significant threat to national security,” Lee Russ, executive director of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations Office of Special Projects said.

Brown is not the first American pilot to face charges for training Chinese military aviators. In 2017, former U.S. Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan was charged with violating the AECA for allegedly assisting Chinese pilots in learning aircraft carrier operations.

Duggan has denied the charges, claiming that U.S. officials knew of his activities and that he was only training civilian pilots. A naturalized Australian citizen, Duggan was arrested in New South Wales in 2022 and is awaiting extradition to the U.S.