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Strength in diversity

Since the integration of our military 58 years ago, and particularly following the establishment of the all-volunteer force, the U.S. military remains the greatest equalizing institution in our country. The truest melting pot in our society exists aboard aircraft carriers, in barracks and on bases. Mess halls and exchange service stores, shooting ranges and training facilities are portraits of diversity.

However, in the officers’ clubs, a different picture emerges. The diversity reflected within the enlisted ranks is lacking in the officer corps — particularly the senior officer corps.

According to data provided by the Defense Department, minorities are overrepresented in the enlisted ranks and underrepresented in the officer ranks. Among the military’s nearly 1.4 million active-duty personnel, roughly 38 percent are minorities, and nearly 20 percent are African-Americans.

In the officer corps, there are:

• Thirty-nine O-10s, only one of whom is African-American (Army Gen. William “Kip” Ward, chief of U.S. Africa Command).

• One hundred and thirty-eight O-9s, six of them African-Americans and three of them women.

• Two hundred and seventy-two O-8s, including 19 African-Americans, one Asian, three Hispanics and 12 women.

• Four hundred and forty-seven O-7s, including 20 African-Americans, three Asians, four Hispanics and 29 women.

Complete racial integration at all levels is a military necessity as a prerequisite for a cohesive and effective fighting force. The racial conflict within the ranks during the 1960s and 1970s was an effective lesson on the importance of inclusion and equal opportunity.

That point was driven home in a “friend of the court” brief in a lawsuit heard by the Supreme Court in 2003, involving a challenge to the University of Michigan’s policy of weighing race as a factor in admissions.

The brief was filed in support of the university’s policy by a group of 29 retired military and civilian leaders, including retired Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. commander in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, supreme allied commander Europe from 1997 to 2000.

The brief noted the importance of racial diversity by pointing out that racial imbalance in the war in Vietnam — more than 10 percent of the service members but only 3 percent of the officers were African-American — caused “increased racial polarization, pervasive disciplinary problems, and racially motivated incidents” that sometimes “reached a point where there was an inability to fight.”

It is possible to correct the imbalances in the senior officer ranks while maintaining the merit-based promotion system that has made our military the best in the world.

First, a need exists to increase preparation for minority and female officer candidates, particularly through Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and Junior ROTC programs. Although the representation of African-Americans among new officers has increased, they have been underrepresented among officers commissioned through the military academies and ROTC scholarship programs. Women have been similarly underrepresented.

Second, increasing awareness among young officer candidates of military career prospects is vital. Women and minority officers tend to be concentrated in administration and supply areas, and are underrepresented in tactical operations — the area that yields two-thirds of general and flag officers. Increased representation of minorities and women among general and flag officers will depend largely on increasing their numbers in career-enhancing occupations in the lower ranks.

Third, there is a need for more mentoring of young officers by senior members, particularly in choice of assignments. Minority and female officers tend to find obstacles in gaining access to peer and mentor relationships simply because the number of potential peers and mentors of similar backgrounds is low.

These relationships are important for supplying young officers the voice of experience and inspiration in navigating through their career decisions. Relationships with more senior officers are also important to success in a young officer’s current assignment, because these more senior officers are among the people who have the subjective authority to decide who gets what assignment.

A conversation on this topic has begun between the Congressional Black Caucus and the men and women who lead the armed forces. The caucus also has requested the House Armed Services Committee to hold hearings on this issue.

Let us keep all options on the table in thinking of effective and creative strategies to rectify this imbalance — for if we fail, the disparity that exists today will persist long into the future.

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Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, D-Fla., represents parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties. He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.