Retired Gen. Robert Brown, a former commander of U.S. Army Pacific, has joined the Association of the U.S. Army as its executive vice president.

Brown also will serve as interim vice president for membership and meetings when retired Lt. Gen. Patricia McQuistion retires later this month, retired Gen. Carter Ham, AUSA president and CEO, announced Jan. 4.

A 1981 West Point graduate who served in the Army for more than 38 years before retiring in 2019, Brown has filled key leadership positions in multiple theaters, including combat tours in Iraq, Ham said.

“I’ve known him for nearly 20 years and have served alongside him at Fort Lewis, in Iraq and in Germany,” Ham said. “I have no doubt that he will make an immediate and positive impact at all levels of AUSA, and I know that he’s anxious to get out to meet our great leaders and members at the region and chapter levels.”

Brown, who previously was an AUSA distinguished senior fellow, said he is honored to join the AUSA team. 

“I look forward to working closely with AUSA’s 122 chapters located worldwide as they provide a voice for our Army, support our soldiers and their families and honor those who have served in order to advance the security of our nation,” he said.

As commander of Army Pacific, Brown led the Army’s largest service component command, responsible for 106,000 soldiers and Department of the Army civilians across the Indo-Pacific region.

He also commanded the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; and the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, Georgia. 

He has deployed in support of Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, Operation Joint Forge in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and two combat deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Known as an innovator, team builder and leader developer, Brown was involved in significant change within the Army. He was a key leader in the development of the modular brigade and Stryker brigade combat team; the improvement of the Army’s educational system through the development of Army University; and the writing of the Army’s first Leader Development Doctrine in Field Manual 6-22, the Army Human Dimension Strategy and the Multi-Domain Operations concept.

McQuistion is retiring from AUSA after more than five years with the association. A former deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Materiel Command who served more than 35 years in the Army, McQuistion joined AUSA in November 2015 and served as senior director of membership before becoming vice president for membership and meetings. 

“I’ll have more to say about [McQuistion’s] retirement soon, but I simply cannot overstate what she has meant to AUSA,” Ham said.

Under her leadership, AUSA’s membership has doubled, then doubled again, Ham said. McQuistion also brought innovation to AUSA events, including planning and conducting AUSA Now, the 2020 virtual annual meeting. 

“And, perhaps most importantly, she’s always there for our region and chapter leaders,” Ham said. “We’ll all miss her.”