Diversity In The Military Essay

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Diversity in the Military; I chose this as my topic because of where I work which is in the U.S. Air Force. The USAF defines diversity as “a composite of individual characteristics, experiences and abilities consistent with the Air Force Core Values and the Air Force Mission. Air Force diversity includes but is not limited to: personal life experiences, geographic background, socioeconomic background, cultural knowledge, educational background, work background, language abilities, physical abilities, philosophical and spiritual perspectives, age, race, ethnicity, and gender. Diversity also is further subdivided into demographic, cognitive, behavioral, organizational/structural and global diversity. This concept of diversity is to be tailored…show more content…
Even though all branches have an African-American serving as the highest rank you can achieve, and the Navy made history back in February by promoting a Black woman to the highest you can achieve. There is still a decline in all branches of African Americans being recruited into the military. According to Gregg Zoroya a reporter for USA TODAY percentages in all branches have dropped from 3 to 10 percent depending on the service. Why is this happening? Opportunity, Lester Lyles retired Air Force general says there are more educational and career choices in the private sector, then there were 20 – 30 years ago, when minorities would look to the military as a way to get an opportunity to succeed, improve themselves and get a better education. Even though the military is making progress in diversity by having leaders of different minorities the trend will decline if minorities are not joining the military. Right now the army is putting a third of its resources in a marketing campaign to attract minorities into the service. When I think of this type of diversity in the military I believe that it is needed. But there is only so much you can do. Balancing race in the military, although good shouldn’t matter since it is after all a volunteer
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