Navy diversity efforts: Are we on the right course?

Paul H. Madore Jr.
Excelsior College
M3A1: Diversity in the Military

ABSTRACT The injection of our service members into diverse cultures around the world has been and continues to be one of the important missions the Navy accomplishes as part of international relations on behalf of the Nation. The advent of near instantaneous communication of good and bad performance results via cellphone, video camera, Internet and news outlets have proven that there is little room for mistakes in this theatre of operations. People around the world form opinions about our Nation and our Force from these media sources; opinions that may be hard to overcome when the feet of our Sailors hit the shores of their country. The conflicts that our Nation is involved with around the world, now and in the future, require us to be a diverse force that provides a positive image demonstrating the intended positive result to the people with whom we interact. This paper discusses the history, the current policies and the potential future results of diversity efforts in United States Navy (USN). Using readily available resources, I will discuss how diversity has strengthened the Navy over the course of the past two centuries and the potential effect as we plot our course into the future.

Our Navy history made stronger through diversity Our Navy’s history is filled with ordinary people from diverse backgrounds who came together for the common cause of assuring our Nations security and protecting our National interests abroad. Although they came from diverse backgrounds, they are heroes because of their actions and the experiences that brought them to serve our Nation and our Navy. John Paul Jones 1 was born in July 1747 in Scotland at a gardener's cottage, the son of a humble gardener. Having made his way into the sea service at the age of 13, he had proven himself a capable seaman. After having command of the Scottish brigantine JOHN at the young age of 21 and several others ships thereafter, Jones was accepted into the Continental Navy as a First Lieutenant in December 1775 and served aboard the ALFRED, first ship of the Continental Navy. He rose to be one of the greatest Sailors in our Nation’s early history and to this day is referred to by some as the “Father of the Navy”. Robert Smalls 2 was born a slave in Beaufort, South Carolina in April 1839. He was educated and became the pilot of the steamer PLANTER at Charleston, S.C. In May of 1862, shortly after the Confederate’s had taken control of the PLANTER, Smalls led his fellow slaves in a daring night escape by taking the ship out of Charleston harbor, with their families, other slaves and valuable military cargo, and delivered her to Union forces who were blockading the port. Welcomed by the Union force as a hero, the 23 year old Smalls continued as pilot of PLANTER and became her captain. He went on to serve in the South Carolina Legislature, became a Major General in the Militia there and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1870’s and 1880’s. Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper 3 was born in New York, New York and became a pioneer as a mathematician and a woman in the Navy serving for over 40 years starting during World War Two and throughout the Cold War and well into the 1980’s. Her work with computer language and the development of COBOL was so noteworthy the Nation honored her superior service with a Navy ship, the Guided-missile Destroyer HOPPER, commissioned in 1997. James Elliot Williams, a Cherokee Indian4 from South Carolina, retired as the most highly decorated Enlisted Sailor5 in the history of the Navy. With about one year remaining to retire from the Navy after a 20 year career, Williams volunteered for River Patrol Boat duty in Vietnam. In that time frame he earned every Navy award for valor including the Medal of Honor. The example he set as a leader right up to the end of his career inspired the Navy to honor his legacy with a Navy ship, the Guided-missile Destroyer JAMES E. WILLIAMS, commissioned in 2004. These few examples illustrate a small portion of the rich history of our Navy since our founding on October 13th, 1775 and high lights the diverse people that have made it what it is today.
The making of Navy diversity policy When Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, formally defined Navy diversity6 as “not only the traditional categories of race, religion, age, gender, national origin, but also all the different characteristics and attributes of individuals that enhance the mission readiness of the Department of the Navy and strengthen the capabilities of our Total Force” he merely stated what had been understood and practiced throughout the Navy’s history. In the years since Navy diversity policy was publicized, specialty recruiting efforts have been implemented to target minority populations 7 in an effort to bring Navy demographics more in-line with the composition of our Nation’s populace. This effort is designed to ensure the composition of the Navy, to include the leadership, reflects our Nations demographics accurately.
Navy Diversity Policy in action The United States Naval Academy (USNA) may be affected by these recruiting efforts as stated by John Cauthen 8, a former history professor at the USNA. Cauthen provides a candid argument about diversity when he says; “These policies and initiatives make it impossible to reconcile preferences with merit.” He goes on to say; “Preferences are arbitrarily bestowed upon favored groups, and merit becomes untenable in a system no longer defined by standards of individual achievement.” When these preferences decide who will attend the USNA and go on to lead our Navy some may wonder if we are focused only on the end result while ignoring the process. Cauthen goes on to tell about a midshipman who plagiarized a paper by Google-ing for content on the Internet, copied and pasted it and submitted it for a grade. Cauthen says he failed the midshipman and documented the case for submission to the Honor Board for adjudication but the individual was retained in the Academy. Navy SEAL Commandos are regarded as the best of the best that hold the highest standards for entry into their cadre. TIME Magazine provided information from the SEAL community that their minority officer population was about 10 percent and that their enlisted minority population was less than 20 percent7. Navy Times reported that the SEAL community is about 85% Caucasian 9 in an article where they provided comments from Navy Captain Duncan Smith, a SEAL who heads Naval Special Warfare Command’s recruiting directorate. Smith said “For us to train with our special operations partner nations, our mission is more easily accomplished if we have people with the cultural and racial identities that allow us to create lasting relationships to better understand our partner forces”. That statement is followed up with an even more powerful statement “We have no numeric goal for diversity. This is not a quota-based operation. This is really just wanting to make progress and to better prepare our force to conduct overseas operations.”
What is the potential future of the Navy? Without the diverse individuals in our history, we can only wonder who would have been there to make our Navy what it is today - a world leading maritime force that has proven to be effective while also being diverse. I take into account that many of our past heroes were called to service by some form of conscription but most served honorably. I am confident that in an all-volunteer force, the Navy may not always attract the best but will continue to retain the very best to serve our Nation. I am also confident that we attract some who do not value a moral code such as our Navy Core Values of Honor, Courage and Commitment. Negotiating individual merit in an effort to ensure the end result of a diversified force could cause the USNA to produce some officers who are ill-prepared to execute their missions. Those few will certainly be an embarrassment to themselves, our Navy and our Nation when their actions come to light and will not rise up to the top of our force. The minority recruiting efforts being put forth by the Navy SEALs is a good idea because they are not setting a quota, they are establishing an advertising campaign to get their message out to the diverse neighborhoods. One might wonder if that was the same mentality that brought diversity into the USNA a few years back. Being courageous and possessed of high standards, I am confident that the SEAL community will be able to withstand the political pressure and maintain the right to decide who becomes a member of their elite force. Many SEALs have completed the entire training program and failed personally during the probation period that follows their acceptance into the ranks. These SEALs are returned to the general population of the Navy if their actions were not career-enders and they continue to serve elsewhere in our Navy. When a professional organization such as the Navy declares a stance on diversity some may wonder why the Navy did not formulate and promulgate a policy statement of this nature decades ago. Others may wonder if diversity in the Navy is more important than the professional standards that have produced the very best maritime fighting forces in history. The important thing to remember and the thing that some outsiders might not understand is that the mission of the Navy is crucial to the security of our Nation and our National interests abroad. Clearly the majority of Americans would want only the very best leading our Navy and defending our Country; it could never be thought of as negotiable. It may sound simple but the Navy has always been able to value diversity. Does the Navy meet the expectations of corporate America when it comes to diversity recruiting and retention? Probably not. The simple truth is that the Navy is not a business – it is a war-fighting machine that does what is required on command. Is corporate America glad that we have a Navy that can do that? I am certain they all appreciate what we do to protect them so they can build their businesses and help fund our Navy.

References:
1. Naval History and Heritage Command (2013). Biographies in Naval History: Captain John Paul Jones. Retrieved from http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/jones_jp1.htm
2. Moore, H. & Dulaney, W. (2013). The Life and Times of Congressman Robert Smalls. Retrieved from http://www.robertsmalls.com/history.html
3. Naval History and Heritage Command (2013). Biographies in Naval History: Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, USN. Retrieved from http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/hopper.htm
4. Naval History and Heritage Command (2013). Native American Medal of Honor Recipients: Boatswain's Mate First Class James E. Williams, United States Navy. Retrieved from http://www.history.navy.mil/special%20highlights/nativeamerican/moh.htm
5. BM1 James Elliott Williams Memorial Web Site (2013). Biography. Retrieved from http://www.pbr105.com/index1.html
6. Winter, D. (2007, August 27). Department of the navy diversity policy statement. Retrieved from http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/diversity/Documents/DONPolicy.pdf
7. Thompson, M. (2012, February 24). Navy seeking more minority seals. Time Magazine. Retrieved from http://nation.time.com/2012/02/24/navy-seeks-a-darker-shade-of-seals/
8. Cauthen, J. A. (2013, January 9). Merit and Preferences: Never the Twain Shall Meet. A former history instructor at the Naval Academy reflects on the problems of the diversity obsession. The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. Retrieved from http://www.popecenter.org
9. Fuentes, G. (2012, April 30). SEALs reach out to increase diversity. Navy Times. Retrieved from http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/04/navy-special-forces-seals-diversity-043012/