According to an analysis of social media, Pentagon documents and public footage by the Daily Caller News Foundation, several of the military officers who are being held back from promotion due to a senator’s battle with the Pentagon supported left-wing cultural positions and diversity initiatives.
Tommy Tuberville, a Republican Alabama senator, has blocked the confirmation of numerous officers in protest against Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s directive to fund out-of state travel for female soldiers seeking abortions. This is the beginning of a game between Tuberville’s office and the Pentagon which shows no signs of ending. According to an analysis of publicly-available information by the Daily Caller News Foundation, several candidates for promotion have made political statements in the past and supported or led internal Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), initiatives related to sexuality and race.
William Thibeau of the Center for the American Way of Life’s American Military Project explained to the DCNF that “comments made by even a few of the Biden Pentagon’s general officer nominations are instructive in terms of defense policy and not just talking points.”
You win by focusing on the right things. “Whatever the commander says, that’s what gets the attention of the entire unit,” he explained.
Tuberville’s Hold, for example, applies to Air Force General Charles. Q. According to NBC News, Brown was nominated recently to replace Gen. Mark Milley, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown became famous when he made an unusual public statement about race during the nationwide rioting that followed George Floyd’s death in 2020.
A memo indicates that in August, Brown instructed the Air Force’s recruitment wing to create a pool of applicants who meet racial-gender percentage quotas. This order was intended to increase diversity within the Air Force.
In 2020, he said to Air and Space Forces Magazine: “I hire because of diversity.”
According to a U.S. News interview, Brown, as Air Force chief of staff at the time, commissioned an Air Force review of racial disparities focusing on African Americans, and a second study examining disparities between white heterosexual men of different ethnicities/gender identity and people of other ethnicities/gender identity.
Brown said that the best way to fix a perceived problem was to analyze it and say, “We have some improvements to make.” This included examining how we handle discipline, career development, and promotion.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Scott Cain was promoted to Major General shortly after Tuberville’s announcement.
Cain, as the commander of Eglin Air Force Base, sent a “unity” message to Air Force colleagues at other installations in 2020. He encouraged them to have a conversation with their teams about “the tragedy in Minneapolis” – George Floyd’s tragic death in summer 2020, the unrest and pain that followed in our country, and “what all this means for our life and service”, just like he did with his subordinates at Eglin. Cain promoted the tools that he and Cecil Williams, Eglin’s DEI director, developed to facilitate these conversations.
Cain stated that “some of the biases, whether we are aware or not, represent a weakness in which it is time to make changes.”
Cain was responsible for the establishment of the DEI office in Eglin. It was one of the Air Force’s first DEI offices. In a June 20, 2022 interview, he called it his “most important long-standing achievement”.
Cain approved the Diversity & Inclusion Strategic Plan 2021-2026.
According to the website, this office is involved in “affirmative hiring” and “inclusionary management.”
In a video, he said “It’s the right time to talk,” referring to conversations he has had with troops. “Everyone in our team comes from a unique place and has a unique perspective. Some people have a bias, whether they are conscious of it or not.”
Williams emphasized the importance of training in unconscious bias, forums, and time to listen to servicemembers rant and express their perspective, and thanked Cain for leading these areas.
Cain has recently been appointed as the new head of Air Force Research Laboratory. He will be in charge of managing a $6 billion budget for research and development, according to an official press release.
Brig. Since February, Gen. Ronald Ragin waited for his promotion to major general and assignment as the commanding General of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command (U.S. Army Europe – Africa).
Ragin told ROTC cadets in a panel discussion at an American university on “why diversity matters” regarding the Army’s Project Inclusion initiative that “we’re going to work hard and continue to strive for a diverse force that will enable us to dominate and succeed on future battlefields.”
According to a press release, Project Inclusion included listening sessions, an evaluation of the military justice systems, and the removal of photos from promotional boards.
Ragin has also started “Mentorship Rucks”, which bring together “a vastly culturally and gender-diverse” group of junior officers. On a ruck on April 1, he reiterated that he supports greater gender, ethnic, and cultural diversity in the Army.
Space Force Brig. According to a LinkedIn posting, Gen. Jody Meritt was a panelist at a DEI symposium for industry groups in 2021. According to a press release, she is eligible for promotion to the rank of Maj. Gen. as of February.
She has also spoken out on her personal social media pages about her political views, including in a tweet from Jan. 26, which appeared to urge followers to vote for tighter gun control. Merritt shared a video on social media that addressed “what we are doing in the Air Force in order to address concerns about underrepresentation of women in service”.
She wrote: “By recognising the value of women’s participation and actively encouraging their involvement, we unlock an transformative force that could reshape our world, one conflict, at a time.”
In May, Navy Vice Adm. Jeffrey Hughes’s reappointment as deputy chief-of-staff for Capability Development at Supreme Allied Command Transformation was proposed.
Hughes, as commander of Navy Recruiting Command in 2016, gave the opening remarks for the command’s inaugural Diversity Awareness Day. According to a press release. Hughes, in his role as deputy chief for naval operations and warfighting, Hughes will participate at the Naval Information Force’s first DEI Summit, which is scheduled to take place in 2022. He will be highlighting the DEI pillars throughout the Naval Information Force, according to a release.
Hughes stated that it was important to reflect our values and serve as an example to the rest nation. We need extraordinary talent to solve these incredibly difficult strategic, operational and tactical problems. And we need that talent to plan, execute and complete complex and vital missions.
According to a release, the Navy will host its first ever Naval Surface Force Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Symposium, April 2022, where Rear Admir. Brendan McLane, the keynote speaker, urged participants to spread diversity.
He said that accepting different viewpoints and moving forward is progress.
McLane will be promoted to Vice Admiral and take command of Naval Surface Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Naval Surface Force.
He added, “This is like maintenance. It needs to be done 100 percent of the time.”
According to a Navy press release, Vice Adm. Craig Clapperton addressed an LGBT celebration at the Navy in 2018. He was nominated and assigned as commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command.
According to the most recent Senate calendar, dated 26 June, Tuberville has been holding back 249 promotions. This number continues to increase. According to Politico, one way to end the hold would be to review each nomination individually. However, this is a time-consuming process and is widely viewed as unworkable.
In an April editorial, Tuberville explained his reasoning behind the suspension by tying the abortion travel policy with a broader “culture war” between Democrats and the Biden Administration. He also accused them of trying to “inject political agendas into the military”.
Tuberville wrote that “thanks to the Biden Administration’s woke appointments, we’ve experienced the worst recruitment drop in 50 years.”
The DCNF has requested comments from the military commands of each nominee.
