Armed Forces News

Port Canaveral, Fla. - Sept 2018: The crew of the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Indiana (SSN 789) salute after bringing the ship to life during the boat's commissioning ceremony. Indiana is the U.S. Navy's 16th Virginia-class fast-attack submarine and the third ship named for the state of Indiana. (Navy photo by Senior Chief MCS Leah Stiles)

The Navy has stated that it has a problem with diversity. In a 142-page report signed by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday, the service has spelled out some of issues at hand and enumerated the steps it plans to take to remedy them.

“As a Navy – uniform and civilian, active and reserve – we cannot tolerate discrimination of any kind, and must engage in open and honest conversations with each other and take action,” Gilday stated in the Feb. 3 report. The report offered some 60 recommendations. Key ones include:

* Expansion of avenues enlisteds can follow, should they want to become officers.
* A more accurate process for evaluating a sailor’s potential to succeed while in uniform.
* Offering a stipend at E-5 pay to officer applicants on the delayed entry program.
* Development and implementation of quality-assurance measures in regards to diversity, equity and inclusion.
* Making promotion board members aware of the potential for bias, before the boards they sit on commence.
* Include more diversity data in selection boards’ records of proceedings.
* Reestablishment of Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training.
* Increase Side-Loaded Scholarships to specifically include “underrepresented communities.”
* Establish and nurture a solid link among the U.S. Naval Academy, historically black colleges and other institutions that serve minorities.
The report also cited areas where the Navy is making inroads.
* The composition of the enlisted force, for example, is representative of the country as a whole in terms of race and ethnicity. It falls short, however,
“from a gender perspective.”
* Officers in underrepresented groups are promoted roughly at the same rate as white officers. However, minorities are still underrepresented in pay grades 0-4 through 0-6.
* Female retention is increasing.