The Pentagon is about to get its first assistant to directly advise the Secretary of Defense on issues of diversity in the military – including removing the scourge of white supremacy from its ranks.
According to two sources familiar with the appointment, Bishop Garrison will start next week as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s senior adviser on human capital, diversity, equality and inclusion. Both sources said Garrison will report exclusively to the head of the Pentagon.
The appointment has yet to be announced and the scope of the position has not yet been fully defined as it is a new position. But Garrison, a West Point graduate who has done two trips in Iraq and advised Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy presidential campaign, will likely advise Austin on improving diversity in the Pentagon, curbing sexual assaults and confronting white people. supremacists and domestic extremists in uniform.
The Department of Defense already has an agency for diversity, equality and inclusion. But having a top executive with direct access to Austin to handle the same issues increases their exposure in the Pentagon. Austin surrounds himself with senior advisers for many of his top priorities, including one for Chinese policy.
The appointment of Garrison, a black man, underscores the Biden government’s emphasis on diversity across the government.
In January, for example, President Joe Biden signed an executive order repealing former President Donald Trump’s ban on trans servants in the military. That’s the kind of move that Biden, Austin, and others have shown promise.
During his confirmation as Secretary of Defense, Austin – now the first Black Pentagon chief – told lawmakers when he was confirmed: “I will fight hard to eradicate sexual violence, to free our ranks from racists and extremists, and to create a climate in which everyone fits in. and willingly has the opportunity to serve this country with dignity. “
And on a visit to the Pentagon this week, Biden honored black Americans who have served in the military for decades. There is “a long history of black Americans fighting for this country,” said Biden, “even if their contributions are not always properly recognized or honored.”
Garrison did not respond to a request for comment. A Pentagon spokesman did not deny Garrison’s forthcoming appointment, but said, “Bishop Garrison is not an employee of the DoD at this time, so we will not comment on that.” The spokesman then said, “We plan to update the list of sworn officers at the beginning of each week.”
The Pentagon has a lot of work to do on diversity
After the nationwide protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd last summer, the Pentagon – like other government agencies – began to pay more attention to issues of diversity.
In July 2020, then Defense Secretary Mark Esper said what many have known for a long time: “We in the military are not immune to discrimination, prejudice and prejudice,” and announced some steps to resolve those issues. They include effectively banning the Confederate flag from military facilities. Esper, however, continued to elevate mostly white men to top positions of power, even after the uprisings over racial injustice.
It seems Austin’s Pentagon is taking diversity issues more seriously, although there is still a lot of work to be done.
As the New York Times noted, about 43 percent of the military are minorities, but only two of the top 41 military posts are held by black people. In fact, 36 of those 41 leadership positions are held by whites.
In addition, during the Capitol uprising on Jan. 6, there was an inordinate number of veterans in the attacking crowd. Ashli Babbitt, the QAnon faith rioters who was fatally shot trying to break into Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, had served in the Air Force.
Pentagon officials are aware that white supremacists and extremists are currently serving in uniform, although they are rushing to note that the majority of the troops do not attribute to hateful ideologies. Still, on Feb. 3, Austin announced a force-wide, 60-day “resignation” so military leaders could discuss these issues with troops.
It’s a start, say analysts and experts, but for many it’s not enough.
“A resignation is not a solution. It’s a placeholder that gives defense officials time to come up with real solutions, ”wrote Jeff Schogol of the military-focused news site Task & Purpose. “It will be damn near impossible for senior leaders to get around the problem of extremists in the military, as long as the Department of Defense has so little data on how many soldiers have ties to domestic terrorist groups.”
And the Pentagon is also struggling to track the number of assaults filed by civilians, according to the Government Accountability Office this week. During fiscal years 2015 and 2019, only 3 percent of an estimated 12,500 cases were registered, the report said. And as for sexual assault within the armed forces, the most recent official report for the 2019 fiscal year found 7,825 reported cases – an increase of 3 percent from the previous period.
The hope is that Garrison can help Austin improve these and other issues as the Pentagon needs to move qualified minorities into more positions of power and keep extremists out of uniform. If he can’t, the U.S. military will continue to grapple with issues it hasn’t resolved for a long time.