CW4 Gerold D. Brown

Army Aviation Hall of Fame 2018 Induction - Nashville, TN
CW4 Gerold D. (Dean) Brown, has flown almost 10,000 flight hours, 5,100 under Night Vision Goggles as a Special Operations Pilot and now Civilian Mission Flight Instructor with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne).
No aviator in all of the 160th SOAR(A) has made more contributions, tackled more responsibilities, and achieved a higher level of excellence than Dean Brown has. As a soldier, officer, aviator, and a Special Operations warrior, standardization officer, flight lead, and instructor pilot, CW4(R) Brown has demonstrated professionalism, unwavering mission-focus, and superior tactical and technical competence in some of our nation’s most classified missions.

Entering the Army in 1982 and participating in several Classified Operations, he served as a flight engineer on the “Super D” MH-47D AWC (All Weather Cockpit) and was selected as one of the first crewmembers sent to flight school to become a Special Operations Aviator in 1989.

CW4 Brown led more than 125 SOF combat missions around the world and was the overall flight lead for the longest helicopter air assault in U.S. military history logging over 14 hours covering a distance over 1,400 nautical miles with four in-flight air refuel events. He also led the longest hostage rescue mission in U.S. history with over 15.5 hours of flight time while rescuing eight missionaries in Afghanistan. 

He retired in 2005 and has trained and mentored more than a thousand aviators. His impact on Army Aviation cannot be overstated.