Press Release |
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Cummings Urges Army Secretary to Address Diversity Issues |
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| Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) sent this morning to Army Secretary Pete Geren urging him to address the lack of senior officer positions in the Army that are filled by minority candidates.
Congressman Cummings has a strong record of working with the military to increase its diversity to fully represent our nation’s population. In his capacity as Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, he has held several hearings on civil rights and diversity that have led to fundamental changes in the Coast Guard’s approach to these issues. He has also authored language included in several defense bills to enact laws that would help improve diversity programs within the Armed Services and has met with high-ranking military officials on numerous occasions to discuss ways to improve their existing efforts to address issues of diversity.
The Congressman also offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act under consideration today by the House of Representatives that would expand the Military Leadership Diversity Commission—which was created to develop a comprehensive plan to increase the number of gender- and ethnic-specific groups across the total military—to include the National Guard and Reserve Components.
Text of the Letter: June 24, 2009 Secretary Pete Geren Office of the Secretary of the Army 1400 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20310-1400 Dear Secretary Geren: The Army has taken significant steps in its efforts to review and assess diversity programs through the creation of the Army Diversity Office. Through a recent update by BG Belinda Pinckney of these efforts, I learned that Army Diversity is out of balance at the senior leader levels. Further, One of your strategic goals is to implement commitment and accountability measures. On January 26, 2006, the Army’s Senior Leadership signed a joint policy statement on diversity which committed the Army to a diversity vision. The current policy, dated April, 1, 2009, pledges a vision for the Army to be the national leader in embracing the strengths of diverse people in an inclusive environment. Although these are steps in the right direction, I am concerned that within this three year Another strategic goal is to institutionalize diverse talent management. In order to effectively grow senior leaders, the Army must first increase the pool of minority officers seeking commissions through West Point and the Reserve Officer Training Corps. It was reported by the Boston Globe on June 17, 2009 that West Point had a 9 percent increase in applications submitted for the class of 2013; and the Naval Academy had a 41 percent increase in overall applications and 57 percent of this increase came from minority applicants. As a member of the Naval Academy Board of Visitors, this huge disparity in enrollment marks concerns for your recruitment efforts for both sources of commissioning. Secondly, once commissioned, a minority officers’ career path must be managed by placing them in high profile developmental jobs within their respective career fields to make them more competitive for advancement. Historically, officers in combat arms career fields dominated the pipeline for promotion to general officer. As the Army has transformed into a more agile force, leader development and promotion potential to the senior ranks must be representative across a broad spectrum of capabilities. The Army is a subculture of identifiable traditions and possesses a strong national presence. Diversity is critical to the organizational effectiveness of the Army’s culture. Leaders at all levels must have an understanding of this culture and be required to behave in a way that is consistent with the Army vision. Top down leaders seem more reluctant to change the way in which they think and act. Yet, these are also the decision makers managing future talent. Therefore, I am concerned about the effectiveness of diversity training and education at the senior levels. I appreciate the work that the Army has done thus far regarding diversity. There is a lot more that can be instituted strategically to align the Army strategy with those of public and private organizations and companies who have succeeded in achieving workforce diversity I understand that the Army is in the process of developing a strategic plan to correct this imbalance in efforts to resolve Congressional concerns regarding the lack of qualified African Americans who obtain the rank of General Officer in the Army. While the Army has made a good faith effort to address areas of minority underrepresentation, more aggressive steps are needed in order to achieve a fully diverse force and capitalize on the strength of this diversity. timeframe the Army has yet to identify concrete metrics to capture performance progress. Having addressed this issue for the past three years, the Army should be able to provide tangible results as a true measure of the leadership’s commitment to institutionalizing diversity into the culture. through their effective and efficient practices. Thank you for your attention to these concerns and I look forward to your reply and periodic updates on your plan.Sincerely, Elijah E. Cummings Member of Congress ### |
