In an exclusive revelation by The Gateway Pundit, a letter penned by Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL 1st District) to the Secretary of the Air Force has been obtained.
The letter voices grave concerns regarding the Department of the Air Forces (DAF) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan for 2023.
This correspondence from Gaetz is the most recent development in the ongoing national discourse concerning the place of DEIA initiatives within the United States military. Gaetz, known for his outspoken nature, is challenging the agency's priorities, arguing that the emphasis on DEIA initiatives detracts from the military's primary missionnational security.
Previously, The Gateway Pundit reported that Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall had introduced the new DAF's DEIA Strategic Plan for 2023.
Kendall stated, As with any competitive team, our success depends on recruiting and retaining the best talent The Department of the Air Forces (DAF) diversity and inclusion efforts are informed by science, business best practices, congressional mandates, data-focused policy reviews and assessments, and the lived experiences of Airmen and Guardians working together every day.
He further added, Our mission requires the DAF to represent the diverse Nation we serve. To maintain the pipeline of All-Volunteer Force, we must leverage the diversity of the United States including racial and gender, but also regional, cultural, socioeconomic, and philosophical diversity. Our diversity distinguishes our force and provides us with unique advantages on todays battlefield and the battlefield of the future.
In the letter obtained by The Gateway Pundit, Gaetz expresses that these DEIA initiatives have sparked alarm among his constituents in Northwest Florida. They fear that such priorities indicate a decline in the DAF's commitment to national security.
In his letter, Gaetz stated, I write to express concern over the Department of the Air Force (DAF) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, (DEI) and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan for calendar year 2023. Throughout Northwest Florida, my constituents have voiced concerns that the DAF has placed an overemphasis on DEI initiatives through numerous policy memos that neglect to mention or prioritize the DAFs core purpose for existence: preserving national security.
Gaetz highlights a stark contrast, noting that under former President Donald Trumps 2020-2021 recruitment policies, the DAF was successful in meeting its staffing and recruitment goals. However, under the current Biden administration, the Air Force, along with the Army and Navy, failed to meet their recruiting targets last year. According to Gaetz, this underperformance is indicative of deeper issues related to misplaced priorities.
Gaetz stated, The DAF is a key contributor to the misapplication of defense priorities, with DEI memoranda that send command signals to recruit a certain number of Americans based on superficial characteristics, like race or sex. According to your memo, the DAF sought to recruit in FY 2022 8.5% black men, 4.5% black females, 6.5% Asian men, and 0.5% Native-American females.
He continued, Unfortunately, the recruiting numbers would suggest a failure of DEI and social-experimentation programs. Your policies have resulted in numerous recruiting shortfalls of a historic manner; for example, the recruiting numbers from FY 2022 and FY 2023, were some of the weakest recruiting numbers in the history of the DAF. Additionally, the public has observed the politicization of the DAF, resulting in waning public sentiment and trust in the military as an institution.
In his letter, Gaetz emphasizes that the 18-page DEIA policy document, which contains over 5,500 words, mentions combat only once, national security zero times, and merit or merit-based also zero times. This glaring omission, according to the Congressman, speaks volumes about where the DAF's priorities currently lie.
Gaetz argues that the DEIA working group should be entirely eliminated, suggesting that the DAF should instead refocus its strategies to confront threats from near-peer adversaries like China and Russia.
He stated, The working-group analytics team assesses every possible angle DEI could contemplate, except whether an emphasis on DEI could have a negative impact on military recruiting and retention. The failure to even consider this as a possible result in the wokeification of the DAF shows a clear disregard for the objective truth.
He added, I respectfully request that your team step back and reflect on the current state of the DAF. With the swearing-in of General C.Q. Brown as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I can only imagine these misguided Air Force policies, ushered in under your tenure, will quickly find adherence and compliance in the other services, leading to further erosion of their standing and the entire reputation of the Department of Defense (DoD).
Therefore, I am formally requesting that your office eliminate the DEIA working group. Please do not just rely on the standard DoD echo chamber that will reaffirm the status quo. Rather, please take this moment to steer the DAF back toward an America-first outlook that removes the social-experiment element from the DAF and reorients the team toward addressing the threats of our near-peer adversaries, the letter concluded.
Login