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All-hands call on the flight deck of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) during a deployment to the Seventh Fleet area of responsibility in 2019.
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On the Importance of Diversity and Inclusion

“It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.”
Executive Order 9981, President Harry S. Truman, 1948
May 2021
Proceedings
Vol. 147/5/1,419
Featured Article
View Issue
Comments
Truman quote

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

Related Articles

Midshipmen
P Featured Article

‘Sir, No Excuse, Sir!’

By Ensign Sydney Frankenberg, U.S. Navy
May 2021
A more diverse Navy officer corps starts at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Midshipmen
P Featured Article

Leadership through Racial Dialogue

By Midshipman First Class Jacob M. Kinnear, U.S. Navy
May 2021
Today’s midshipmen should learn from Admiral Elmo Zumwalt’s example.
While they may be a good start, individual conversations will not solve the Navy’s problems with race.
P Commentary

We Don’t Need Conversations, We Need Systemic Change

By Commander Jada Johnson, U.S. Navy
September 2020
The concept of improving race relations through individual conversations misses the structurally systemic nature of the problem.

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