Army’s Top Enlisted Leader Removed Diversity Consideration for Top Enlisted Roles

The Army’s top enlisted leader has removed key guidance that required diversity to be considered when selecting individuals to serve in upper-level noncommissioned officer positions, according to a memo reviewed by Military.com.

Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer, the top enlisted leader of the force, recently issued new guidance on selecting command sergeants major that was essentially copy-and-pasted from his predecessor — with one exception. It removes a line directing that a command sergeant major candidate’s diversity be considered.

{snip}

Most of Weimer’s newly released guidance is unchanged and relatively pedestrian, such as a loose requirement for top enlisted leaders in airborne roles to be jump masters and physical fitness being a determining factor. The line of guidance that was cut read “consider diversity to ensure leaders represent our formations.”

{snip}

The news also comes as the Army has been quietly scrubbing some of its other emphasis on diversity in the ranks. Earlier this year, the service delisted its advertising campaign titled “The Calling” on YouTube. The campaign featured individual ads of real soldiers from diverse backgrounds meant to appeal to shifting demographics.

{snip}

Meanwhile, congressional Republicans included an amendment in the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, the annual must-pass legislation that sets funding and policy priorities for the Pentagon, underscoring that all promotions are supposed to be merit-based, but it doesn’t outright forbid diversity being taken into account.

{snip}