A trove of documents from the Air Force relating to its DEI initiatives and "goal" of reducing the number of white male applicants in the popular officer program have finally been obtained after many FOIA requests for the documents were stone-walled.
According to the Daily Caller, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman CQ Brown issued a memorandum in 2022 that said the military branch was changing up its racial and gender demographic goals for applicants to the officer program in an effort to increase "diversity and inclusion." Documents obtained by the Caller relating to the demographic goals included slides from a presentation that details how to reach a reduced number of white males in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.
The records about the Air Force’s officer application standards only became available after the Air Force told the Center To Advance Security In America (CASA) - which FOIA requested the records - that they could not find any documents to the demographic goals. CASA sued the Air Force for the records in April 2024 and was able to obtain the documents, which were handed off to the Caller.
One of the documents, part of a slide show that was obtained, was labeled, "AFROTC White." It shows a graph of the percentage of white male applicants declining as other demographics are rising in percentage. This percentage declines from 60 percent of the applicants in 2019 to a projected 50 percent in 2023 and that then reaches 43 percent by the projected year of 2029. The percentage is noted as the "goal" by the slides.
“These documents show us that the Air Force has taken steps toward implementing their new directive of specific racial quotas for officer recruitment and enrollment throughout the branch,” James Fitzpatrick, the director of CASA told the Caller.
At the bottom of the slide of demographic goals, it states, “White male population will decline as other demographics increase." The slide in question shows that the Air Force is on track and needs to do more to hit its goal of having only 43 percent of white applicants in the officer program by 2029.
The slides also show that the Air Force has the goal of marketing to minority groups in order to reach its demographic goals. On a slide with the black population, it suggests that the Air Force “target [the] male population through ongoing programs and marketing” and notes it has already met its “female goal” for ROTC officer applicants in reference to the black female population.
The slides also make note of a budget of $500,000 for “diversity advertising campaigns” as well as $250,000 for “influencer engagements.
After the outlet requested comment from the Air Force, a spokesman said, "The FOIA request was being processed at multiple levels within the Air Force," adding, "One of the units responded to the FOIA request with a ‘no responsive records’ response after conducting their own local search, while the remainder of the units continued to process the responsive documents that were ultimately provided,” the spokesperson told the outlet.
