James E. Brown III (born August 15, 1954) is a former aerospace executive, test pilot instructor, and United States Air Force officer.

On his next tour, Brown flew the F-5E Tiger II with the 527th Aggressor Squadron at Royal Air Force station Alconbury in England.

[7] The Prop Wash Award is dedicated to the memory of TPS graduate Colonel Ellison Onizuka who died as a member of the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986.

[7] Following graduation, Brown tested the A-7 Corsair II, all models of the F-15 Eagle, and performed flight trials on a number of classified prototype aircraft.

[4] Brown interviewed with Lockheed for a test pilot position but, because of reduced military spending after the end of the Cold War, no openings were available.

[8] Brown encouraged young engineers by presenting lectures such as Braking the F-117 Stealth Fighter given to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics student chapter at the University of California, San Diego.

[2] On November 22, 2002, Brown flew the mission that completed all Pentagon-mandated flight test goals needed to start the next phase of the program.

[11][12] On this mission, Brown fired an AIM-9M Sidewinder missile at a supersonic QF-4 unmanned drone flying several miles directly ahead of the F-22.

[11] The unarmed missile passed close enough to the target to be assessed a lethal hit, satisfying the criteria needed to start the Dedicated Initial Operational Test & Evaluation (DIOTE) phase the following year.

In 2003, he appeared on the Discovery Channel's television show, Secrets of Future Air Power, and described the stealth, weapons, and thrust vectoring capabilities of the F-22.

Convened to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the F-16, the panel consisted of United Airline's captain Joe Sobczak, Lockheed F-22 test pilot, John Fergione, retired USAF Colonel James Rider, and "father of the F‑16", Harry Hillaker.

[23] In 2008, Brown presented the status of the F-22 test program to the instructor and student pilots at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi.