The Congressionally chartered Military Leadership Diversity Commission has completed 18 months of research and issued its recommendations. Although the military does not have the same “institutional biases” against women and minorities as in decades past, the fact that so few women and minorities fill the senior ranks gives the “perception” that those biases still exist, said Lester Lyles, retired Air Force general who chaired the commission. That’s because there is a lower representation of women and minorities in initial officer accessions, along with lower rates of advancement in both groups, the commission found. In order to make the military ranks mirror the nation’s demographics, the Defense Department should consider diversity in officer promotions and require diversity leadership and education at all levels, commissioners said. DOD should also “eliminate combat exclusion policies for women,” they state in their final report. (MLDC webpage to access final report and executive summary) (See also AFPS report by Lisa Daniel)
When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Air Force Gen. Dan Caine described the 150 aircraft used in Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, he referenced many by name, including the F-35 and F-22 fighters and B-1 bomber. Not specified, however, were “remotely piloted drones,” among them a secretive aircraft spotted and photographed returning to Puerto…
