Diversity Thursday
a quota is goal; a goal is a quota
First of a few clips via CSPAN of the;
Superintendents of U.S. Military Service Academies Testify on Curriculum and Admissions Standards
The superintendents of West Point, Navy and the Air Force academies testified on their admissions process and curriculum before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel. Topics addressed included the importance of diversity, affirmative action, and the role of standardized testing in admissions. This hearing occurred after the Supreme Court ruled to end affirmative action usage at public universities and colleges.
We’ve been waiting a long time for Congress to do this. Bit by bit the covers are being pulled back - but this is a good start.
The great beauty here is that we can see a few things;
Your diversity nomenklatura can only prepare you so much with pre-planned responses, word games, and talk-arounds. The follow-on questions, backed up by knowledge, will get you to expose yourself. Eventually, you run out of spin and - in an attempt to regain some self-respect, you will finally 87% admit what is the truth. You’ll see that in the start of the final clip.
As a GOFO, you live in a rather well protected intellectual environment. You are rarely challenged in the open and are not used to people not accepting your answer. You are used to polite deference given to you by people you consider less intelligent than yourself. Things have changed, especially in this topic area. Congress is full of very sharp people who are used to swimming through other people’s lies and hedging. This skill, always there, is now combined with the fact that what little positional capital the American military’s General and Flag Officers once had is almost gone. Two decades of happy talk and consuming personal and institutional capital in a willing effort to join in domestic politics, consumed the remainder of what two decades of poor imperial policing in Central and Southwest Asia already thinned. General Milley and Admiral Gilday willing politicization of themselves and their institutions ensured that in 2023 not only is the deference gone, no one trusts they are being told the truth.
I’m going to pull a few clips for you out of the 2-hr hearing. There are more great clips, but I don’t want to abuse your time too much. Watch the whole thing at the link up top if you can. There is some great stuff there. My apologies to the Representatives I do not clip, such as Rep. Corey Mills (R-FL), who also did superior work and know what time it is … and when they’re being feed spin.
First Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL);
Next, Rep Mark Alford (R-MO).
Two parts from Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).
Part I is the set up. You can almost smell the desire to not say something clearly…which Banks knew, and he’s setting the table well. First they continue to find some way to deny in a very sealawyery way that race is taken in to consideration, which it is, and then after thinking they were successful, all of a sudden can’t offer an opinion if given the latest SCOTUS ruling applied to them, if there would be any impact. Exposes their spin in clear relief.
Huh.
Next Part II that just nukes the tap dancing in Part I. I’m not sure the GOFO realize that Banks knows they are not being transparent and are spinning - and he just nukes them to the point they shift out of their pre-planned responses and contradict their earlier statements.
As I’ve said for almost 18-years, these policies cannot survive the follow-on questions and the light of day.
This is a good start. The questions are starting to be asked … and the more layers that will be pulled back on this, the uglier it will be.
Keep pulling.
Another great post, Shipmate.
Worked at Navy Recruiting Command almost a decade ago at the oh-6 level. Goal setting was standard fare. Sometimes by gender (I recall either CNO or CNP pushed out a goal for 25% female accessions at one point, well above the typical 15-18%). Sometimes by ethnicity (blacks, hispanics, PAI, etc) and often certain professions (chaplains, doctors, lawyers). And yes, they specified "these are goals, not quotas."
By saying that, I think they were trying to communicate that it wasn't legally hard and fast. But if a 1- or 2-star tells you it's a "goal" that becomes the quota by default. Whatever interests your boss should fascinate you, right? No doubt that works all the way up The Chain. The junior Flags were only reflecting senior Flag intentions, and ultimately Congressional or Executive interest.
Anyway, around that same time my son tried to enlist in the Navy as an intel specialist. He had good grades, was TS-eligible, did well on his aptitude test, and obviously knew Navy culture from growing up in my house. I helped out by calling our local recruiter, and set up a visit with the Chief there. Even went with him.
He never got a second call. Ended up in the Army, where he did well. But my time at CNRC told me all I needed to know about why they weren't interested in him.
My Canoe U roommate was a laid back surfer from New Jersey who shocked us by 1.) service selecting Marine Ground and 2.) excelling at TBS and branch selecting Infantry. He did two tours in Iraq, including one up on the Syrian border where he saw some heavy stuff. For his shore tour he wanted to be close to family in Jersey so he accepted orders to the academy as an Admissions Officer. Sometime into his tour we got together for dinner and were catching up when I asked him what he thought of working in admissions. His cheery demeanor suddenly changed and he looked me in eye and with a straight face said – I f’ing hate it, I wish I was back in Iraq! He’d had his fill of chasing “unicorn” applicants and dealing with helicopter parents and managed to negotiate an early transfer to get back to the FMF.
Great grilling of the FOGOs - I only wish Jim Webb could have joined panel.