 Brown became commander of the Eastern Transport Air Force at McGuire Air Force Base , New Jersey , in August 1963 . In September 1964 , he was selected to organize and command Joint Task Force 2 , a Joint Chiefs of Staff unit formed at Sandia Base , New Mexico , to the test weapon systems of all the military services in order to avoid wasteful duplication of effort . It was staffed by personnel of all three services . In May 1966 he became the Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , General Earle G. Wheeler , on the recommendation of his predecessor in the role , Lieutenant General Andrew <unk> . Brown was promoted to the same rank on 1 August 1966 . The preoccupation of the Joint Chiefs at this time was the Vietnam War , but he was also involved in the handling of the Pueblo crisis . 
