Patriot359

I don't think anyone in the AF lower levels consults a Diversity Decision tree either, but that is really not the point. The AF is already using Diversity based on charateristics, which have nothing to do with Ops mission success and that is really the issue. I sent in an 847 requesting the "Race, Ethnicity and Sex" be deleted from the AFI. This is a bit more official then the letter idea, although a good one. Understand you might not care, but I do and wanted to see what others thought of the AFI.

Who the Hell is trolling dude? I do really care about this "noise", because as you said it yourself "I care about getting the job done WITH THE MOST CAPABLE people" You and I are agreeing, we want the most capable people on the job, but when the AF is focussing on race, ethnicity and sex, they are not focusing on the most capable people. You really should be caring about the AF's Diversity, because you will more than likely not be getting the "most capable people" for the mission. On the flip side, why is the AF focusing so much on this "noise" when they should be more focused on more important issues, I don't know like having money to fly sorties. Shit, our squadron can't even buy needed supplies, etc and the AF is focused on Diversity and Diversity studies? Something is seriously wrong with that picture. You and I are saying the same thing, we need the most capable people on the job, I think you are not seeing that Diversity, in the AF's defintion, could prevent this from happening.

I did create an account a week ago, but I am not trying to rile anyone up; this is just a discussion. Why are we even talking about Race, Sex or Ethnicity in the military? Aren't we supposed to be all blue, as in Air Force Blue? Why are we focusing on White, Black, male, female, etc when it does not matter in completing the mission? Diversity based on race, sex and ethnicity does not bring people together, but creates animosity and division. The Air Force constantly tells us we are all one team and that race, sex and ethnicity does not matter, but then turns around and has a Diversity regulation and advertises that Diversity is mission critical. At the very best it is confusing and at the very worst it can divide our troops along lines of race, ethnicity, sex etc. The very fact people are getting a little heated with this topic may indicate that Diversity is maybe impacting ops more than we would like to admit.

I believe this policy has the potential to undermine mission effectiveness. This was the whole point the O-6 was upset about. If we are so concerned about color, ethnicity and sex in the makeup of our force structure and not focused on hiring/selecting the best, our strength as a militay force will decrease. This may not be on the radar of most troops, but I am telling you, this has the potential to weaken us as a fighting force. This should concern all of us as an Americans and specifically us currently serving.

Actually, this post is a result of our O-6 getting pretty pissed about it, about a month ago he discussed it with a small group of officers. When an O-6 gets angry about a reg I am going to look into it. His point was this, we (AF) are getting away from what is important to the mission and the leadership is losing focus. When the leadership is focusing on aspects which do not impact the mission, we have issues. When funding for actual flying is being cut, yet we are pushing these efforts, I would say something is wrong. The O-6's point was, why are we focusing on race, ethnicity and gender when neither are skillsets and have nothing to do with the mission? If anything, focusing on these characteristics has the potential to divide AF personnel rather than bring them together as a team. I have to agree with him. It is concerning to me that leadership does not see this. My point in bringing this topic to this forum is this. In our dicsussion with the O-6, some had discussed submitting an 847 to request changing the AFI and wanted to get some opinions of this.

Yes, it was pretty dry reading, but I did actually read it. The AFI covers the reasoning for Diversity, "Diversity is about strengthening our force and ensuring our longterm viability to support our mission to Fly, Fight, and Win…in Air, Space, and Cyberspace. Diversity is a military necessity" and defines it as, "Air Force diversity includes but is not limited to: personal life experiences, geographic background, socioeconomic background, cultural knowledge, educational background, work background, language abilities, physical abilities, philosophical/spiritual perspectives, age, race, ethnicity, and gender." I pretty much get what the AF is saying and having a diverse crew for example is a good thing. But my defintion of diversity in ops is different then the AFI. For example, when I schdeule a crew for an Op, I do not consider "race, ethnicity or gender", I consider proficiency, time in acft, experienced vs new guy/gal, you get the picture. I have no issue with the race, ethnicity or gender categories, but I never consider them during Ops. I certainly would not consider them a "military necessity" either. I strictly look at who is the best person for that mission/Op. Anyway, I wanted to see what your thoughts were.

Was curious what you thought of the new Diversity AFI in the AF?