Cheryl Lynn Brown (b. 1958) served as a Korean linguist in the United States Army from 1980-1984. Cheryl Lynn Brown was born in 1958 in Florida. Her family moved often, but she spent the majority of her childhood in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, before finally settling in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1968-1980.

In 1976 Brown enrolled at Agnes Scott College, where she pursued a degree in sociology. June 11th, 1980, she joined the United States Army, after graduation from Agnes Scott, as a Korean linguist. She received her basic training to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and next attended the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center [DLIFLC] in Monterey, California. While at DLIFLC Brown came to the realization that she was a lesbian, and as a result came under investigation for her activities.

After graduating from DLIFLC, Brown was stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, for further training in technical Korean. Brown was next sent to South Korea. Though originally assigned to an airborne signal intercept team, Brown was reassigned to the ground based 332nd Military Intelligence Group due to the ongoing investigation into her personal activities. While in Korea, Brown was stationed along the Demilitarized Zone [DMZ], an area considered to be an area with a heightened potential of combat due to sporadic armed incursions, for a month. While on the DMZ, Brown’s unit was targeted by a failed bombing attempt by North Korean infiltrators. After spending a year in Korea, Brown was stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, for further training.

While at Fort Devens she enrolled herself in a great number of specialized training courses. Brown was next stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, where she operated a mobile scrambling device. In 1984 Brown was honorably discharged from the United States Army and worked at a number of civilian jobs, including as a forensics investigator for a police department. She eventually returned to school and received a doctorate in Sociology from Georgia State University.