The Air Force's Black DEI Myths

This is an excerpt from the chapter titled: "The Best Arguments for DEI: Improved Performance"

     The Air Force became a separate branch of service on September 18, 1947. President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948. The Air Force came into existence as a segregated branch of the armed services despite the combat success and heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen.

   There was never, and won't ever be, a greater proven example of the prowess of African American pilots in combat than the Tuskegee "experiment." The Tuskegee Airmen shattered the expectations of the War Department and the Army Air Corps. The merits of the Tuskegee Airmen in combat were not enough for the military leadership to establish a meritocracy then, and it certainly isn't now, over 75 years later.

   There is one surviving Tuskegee Airman who flew in combat during World War II. His name is Lt. Col. George Hardy. He is 99 years old. Although the Air Force has done a commendable job in the last 10-15 years of reviving the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, it is a gesture of respect for what was accomplished in the past rather than a recognition of the current potential that lies within black pilots as a group. 

    There was no urgency to pick black pilots to be "on the team" after World War II when their success was fresh and measurable in terms of lives and equipment saved. And the success of pilots who flew in combat over 75 years ago certainly hasn't led to a sustained effort in the Air Force of today to increase the number of black pilots.

    If proven success in combat isn't the measuring stick, nothing else can be. The argument that DEI will enhance combat effectiveness is a losing argument, not because it isn't true, but because it's not what is most important to the forces that govern the demographic of the military. Those forces include the will of political and military leadership, as well as public opinion. 

     The force of public opinion affects what political leaders are willing to do to enact change in the military. Additionally, I believe, knowingly or unknowingly, the majority white leadership demographic of the military (including the Air Force) preserves systems and processes that benefit the majority. In either case, the driving factor is not demonstrated combat success. It wasn't then, and certainly won't be now when it is not possible to set apart African American contributions as a group and measure their contributions to the success of combat and peacetime operations.

     What if it were possible to identify the combat success and individual contributions of a single stellar African American, an outstanding sample size of one, if you will, to demonstrate the potential of African Americans in combat? Political forces would still trump that. General Brown had one of the most stellar combat records of any Air Force general officer in recent history: 

"I'd like to focus on the portion of Gen. Brown's career from May 2011 to Feb 2014. This stretch of his career is the most fascinating to me and, arguably, outside his selection as Chief of Staff, the most historic. Gen. Brown worked for two years as the Deputy Director in U.S. CENTCOM's Operations Directorate. He had key responsibilities in prosecuting the war in Iraq. He was, as I previously stated, working close to the fight. He later moved to what I believe was one of the most significant jobs for any African American in recent Air Force history.

     Gen. Brown was selected to become the Commander, U.S. Air Forces Central Command. He was in charge of leading the entire air war in Iraq…

May 2011 - May 2013, Deputy Director, Operations Directorate, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla.

May 2013 - February 2014, Deputy Commander, U.S. Air Forces Central Command; Deputy, Combined Force Air Component Commander, U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia

March 2014 - June 2015, Director, Operations, Strategic Deterrence, and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa, Ramstein AB, Germany

June 2015 - July 2016, Commander, U.S. Air Forces Central Command, Air Combat Command, Southwest Asia
July 2016 - July 2018, Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command, MacDill AFB, Fla."

The retired officer selected to replace General Brown does not have the same proven combat experience or even the required leadership experience. Here's a description of how General Dan Caine became "qualified" to assume the nation's top military post:

"UNCONVENTIONAL PICK
Caine's military career is a far cry from the traditional path to becoming the president's top military adviser. Previous generals and admirals have led a combatant command or a military branch of service.

How far Cain can keep the military out of politics may largely depend on Trump - who in the past has dragged the military into partisan issues.

In a recent re-telling of their first meeting in Iraq, Trump said that Caine was in the hangar where service members started putting on "Make America Great Again" hats.

"They all put on the Make America Great Again hat. Not supposed to do it," Trump said during a speech last year.
"I said, 'you're not supposed to do that. You know that.' They said, 'It's OK, sir. We don't care.'"

"I know he's nontraditional, but that's kind of what this administration looks for," said Chris Miller, who served as Trump's last acting secretary of defense in his first term.

Caine "definitely knows how the Pentagon works," Miller told The Associated Press. Caine has experience, too, in the National Guard and has worked in the private sector.

"He's spent time as a citizen-soldier. The guy's been out, done other things. He brings a perspective that is not traditional for a chairman, which I think will be a breath of fresh air," Miller said.

A question after Brown's firing was whether Trump was seeking a loyalist as chairman of the Joint Chiefs chairman. Trump praised Caine — and condemned the current military leadership — at an unrelated appearance in Miami this past week.

"General ‘Razin’ Caine was — he’s some general. He’s a real general, not a television general,” Trump said Wednesday, two days before his Truth Social post.

“We have the greatest military in the world, but we don’t have the greatest top, top leadership. That’s why Afghanistan was such a horrible situation and so embarrassing and so many other things,” Trump added. “But when we want to, with proper leadership, there’s nobody even close to us.”

  President Trump said, “We don’t have the greatest top, top leadership.” He called General Caine a “real general.” By the strictest definition, “general” in military terms equates to four-star rank. Three-star generals, the rank Dan Caine attained before retiring, are called Lieutenant Generals. What in the new administration qualifies someone to be a top general, a “real general,” if it’s not proven combat success, demonstrated leadership among your peers, or meritocracy?

   When an African American finally meets the highest standards, the standards are changed. Perhaps General Brown should have invested in some MAGA hats. Political will is more powerful than the merit of proven combat success, from the War Department of the 1940s to the present.