Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo responds to questions at a March 22 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo responds to questions at a March 22 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Office of Sen. Joe Manchin

Pentagon’s No. 2 Civilians Fire Back in ‘Woke’ Wars

“There's been no detraction from the primary mission,” Navy Undersecretary Erik Raven told dubious GOP senators.

The U.S. military’s diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, policies and training are not hurting combat readiness and recruiting, the No. 2-ranking civilian leaders of the Army, the Navy and Marine Corps, and the Air Force and Space Force told lawmakers on Wednesday.

Their sworn testimony before a Senate committee is the latest of a string of public rejections by top Pentagon civilian and military officials of allegations by far-right political figures that so-called “woke” policies were weakening the armed forces. 

“There's been no detraction from the primary mission of both the Navy and Marine Corps to defend our nation and do so in a forward-deployed manner,” Navy Undersecretary Erik Raven told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

In the last two weeks, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger also have said that DEI policies, far from being a distraction, were good for their services, in exclusive interviews for Defense One’s State of Defense series. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are expected to be asked about the issue by House Republicans in a hearing before the Appropriations Committee on Thursday morning.

Later that day, senior Pentagon and military personnel officials also will testify before the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee on DEI effects.  

In opening remarks on Wednesday, Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, cited a recent Army “pulse survey” about “barriers to service,” which found that among potential young recruits, only five percent thought the Army emphasized “wokeness” too much.

“Let me be clear: diversity and inclusion strengthen our military. By every measure, America's military is more lethal and ready than it has ever been. It is also more diverse and inclusive than ever before,” Reed said. “This is the right direction, as America's strength is its diversity. But greater diversity requires greater understanding within the ranks. And understanding requires learning and regular training.”

Ranking member Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said the Defense Department should work on fixing the recruiting crisis as much it does on promoting diversity, equity and inclusion; fighting extremism in the ranks; and ensuring access to abortion. 

“These initiatives are at best a distraction. At worst, they dissuade young people from enlisting,” Wicker said in his opening remarks, without offering evidence. “They suggest to the American people that the military has a problem with diversity and extremism. In truth, the military is the greatest civil-rights program in the history of the world.”

Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s anti-extremism efforts that followed the Jan. 6, 2021, insurgent attacks on the Capitol as an unfair “purge” of adherents of far-right political beliefs. On Wednesday, they argued that the programs have convinced the public that extremism in the ranks is a bigger problem than it really is. 

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, appeared to refer to a 2021 Pentagon report that found fewer than 100 service members in the previous year had been “subject to official action due to engagement in prohibited extremist activity.”

“The vast majority…of the men and women who serve in the military serve with honor and distinction. They're the best and brightest,” Sullivan said. “Don't you think that that impacts recruiting? That for the last year, we've been saying that we have all these quote-unquote extremists in the military?”

Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo said they had no evidence it has had an impact.

Raven agreed that most sailors and Marines serve honorably. “I think there is a perception on a range of toxic behaviors that I believe are very small, but very important to get at, that Americans are concerned that they may join the military and be faced with unacceptable behaviors ranging from sexual harassment to other behaviors.”

The second-ranking barrier to entry listed in the Army’s pulse survey was that 13 percent of potential recruits believe “women and racial or ethnic minorities are discriminated against in the Army.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked the three undersecretaries whether programs to address racism and prevent sexual assault hurt recruitment, and all responded “no.”

“It is when these programs fail that young people question whether joining the military is a safe career path for them, not whether or not these programs exist in the first place,” Warren said.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said he disagreed with comments that the “military isn’t focused on the right things.” He asked the Navy’s Raven whether the DEI initiatives—many of which, Kelly said, were started in 2012—reduce readiness. “Of the dozens of no-fail operations our service members have conducted over the last decade, do you have any evidence, any evidence at all, that these initiatives have adversely impacted our success anywhere?” 

“No,” said Raven to both questions. “And I would also say that Gen. [David] Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, was recently asked a similar question, and he said there was zero evidence, that's a quote, zero evidence that all these initiatives have impacted our readiness.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.