Diversity and inclusion are important principles in the national discussion and within the military. Since President Truman’s 1948 executive order, the U.S. military has been a leader in opening opportunities for women and minorities, yet the path has not been smooth—as then-Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Elmo Zumwalt’s Z-Gram 66 pointed out in 1970. A number of high-profile events in 2020, including the death of George Floyd, brought racial justice to the forefront of the national dialogue. Evaluating the military’s role in this vital conversation, CNO Admiral Mike Gilday recognized the Navy’s position: “We have fallen short in the past by excluding or limiting opportunity for people on the basis of race, sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender or creed.”
In July 2020, the Naval Institute Board of Directors asked, “What role can (or should) the Institute play?” Our initial answer was to run a Diversity and Inclusion Essay Contest. The response was overwhelming—more than 120 essays from men and women of all ranks, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. They tackled the topic from racial, gender, and socioeconomic perspectives. A theme that emerged from the essays is that diversity is a noun and including people is the associated action. The winning essay, “‘Sir, No Excuse, Sir’: Confronting Exclusion in the Naval Academy’s Curriculum,” by Ensign Sydney Frankenberg, U.S. Navy, follows on page 40. In the coming months, Proceedings will publish a number of the other essays as well.
Our reasons for advancing this discussion are straightforward. First, the Naval Institute has been committed to an “open forum” to discuss and debate ideas for nearly 150 years. These discussions demonstrate the diverse perspectives of our members, who primarily come from the Sea Services. The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are intended to be meritocracies based on hard work, dedication, professionalism, and fairness. Second, all who serve deserve the same opportunities; strong, just leadership; and support up and down the chain of command. Trust in shipmates and fellow Marines is essential in the high-risk activities conducted by the Sea Services in peace and war. Division harms this trust, while inclusion builds it. Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen cannot launch and recover aircraft, submerge submarines, run to the sound of the guns or into a burning compartment without unconditional trust in the people next to them. We know what happens when trust breaks down. Forty-eight years ago, during another time of national racial tension, a race riot broke out on board the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), injuring 46 sailors. Trust builds combat readiness; distrust destroys it.
Finally, our collective knowledge and experience tell us that diverse and inclusive teams are better and more effective than homogeneous ones. A diversity of experience, backgrounds, cultures, races, genders, and education gives ships, squadrons, battalions—and the military as a whole—a competitive edge.
As our nation strives constantly to become a “more perfect union,” the military must also strive to recruit, train, promote, and retain citizens who represent the whole of American society. It is not only the right thing to do, it is necessary as our nation’s demographics change. Free seas and our national security demand nothing less. We hope you will join the discussion.
The Board of Directors and the
Editorial Board of the U.S. Naval Institute
Naval Institute Board of Directors
The Honorable Robert O. Work,
Col, USMC (Ret.), Chair
ADM Jonathan W. Greenert, USN
(Ret.), Vice Chair
ADM James Stavridis, USN (Ret.),
Chair Emeritus
VADM Peter H. Daly, USN (Ret.),
CEO & Publisher
ADM Thad W. Allen, USCG (Ret.)
MajGen Charles F. Bolden Jr.,
USMC (Ret.)
LT James Barksdale, USN
The Honorable Christine H. Fox
Thomas Furlong
Mel Immergut
RADM Margaret Klein, USN (Ret.)
ADM William F. Moran, USN (Ret.)
ADM Michael S. Rogers, USN (Ret.)
ADM Scott H. Swift, USN (Ret.)
LtGen Robert S. Walsh, USMC (Ret.)
ADM James A. Winnefeld Jr., USN (Ret.)
Editorial Board
CDR Brendan Stickles,
USN, Chair
LCDR Eric Zilberman,
USN, Vice Chair
LCDR Natalia Best, USCG
Maj Nick Brunetti-Lihach, USMC
CAPT James Caroland, USN
SgtMaj Anthony Easton, USMC
LCDR Karen Kutkiewicz, USCG
CDR Eric W. McQueen, USN
CDR Ryan E. Mewett, USN
CAPT Scott M. Smith, USN
LtCol William Steinke, USMC
CAPT Joshua P. Taylor, USN
