The SECDEF’s senior DEI advisory committee (DACODAI) will be holding a public meeting at the beginning of May in Arlington, Virginia or via Zoom.
STARRS CALL TO ACTION: Register to attend and/or submit a statement on what you think about DEI ideology and the agenda push in the military.
THANK YOU to the many people who submitted very powerful statements to the DACODAI committee, and for all those who signed up to attend in-person or watch via Zoom. Over 17 people from STARRS and other organizations we work closely with made airline and hotel reservations to attend from all over the country and even flying in internationally. These groups represent all those who are concerned about the damaging effects the DEI agenda is having on the military, making it weak.
We had early on requested that three STARRS leaders be able to make short oral statements (per what is stated in the Federal Register) during the public comments segment of the meeting, but on 18 April, we were informed by DACODAI that they were not allowing oral statements and did not give a reason why they contradicted what was stated in the Federal Register.
UPDATE: Around Noon ET on Monday, 29 April, STARRS received an announcement from the EXDIR of DACODADI stating:
The Department of Defense has determined that, due to unforeseen circumstances, the upcoming May 2-3 Bi-Annual Meeting of the Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACODAI), previously noticed in the Federal Register/Vol. 89 No. 68/Monday, on April 8, 2024, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. §§ 1009(a)(1) and (2) and 41 C.F.R. §§ 102-3.140 and 3.150, will be open to the public virtually only via web address and/or audio number.
To register to attend virtually, please contact DACODAI at osd.mc-alex.ousd-p-r.mbx.dacodai@mail.mil or by contacting Ms. Shirley Raguindin at (571) 645-6952. If you previously registered to attend in-person, you will be sent the web address and/or audio number.
Written comments can still be provided in writing no later than Tues, April 30, 2024, as stated in the amended Federal Register Notice. These inputs will be shared with the DACODAI and posted to the DACODAI website, https://www.dhra.mil/DACODAI/, for all interested parties to see.
A copy of the Public Agenda with the meeting web address link is attached to this email: DACODAI Virtual Agenda_May 2-3_2024 Biannual Meeting(Microsoft Word doc)
So in addition to not being allowed to speak, we are not allowed to attend in-person.
After the last DACODAI meeting in December, DACODAI Chair Gen. Lester Lyles wanted to have an informal discussion via Zoom with members of his committee and STARRS. The DACODAI Federal Officer shut this down. STARRS then recorded on video for DACODAI the statements that they were going to make and sent it to them. Watch here. STARRS received no response from DACODAI.
It appears “diversity of thought” so often touted by DoD is actually not in fact valued and being “inclusive” to all actually means only to those who believe one side of the issue. The committee itself all has the same one-thought bias regarding pushing DEI in the military with no diverse thought.
HOW TO REGISTER AND/OR SUBMIT A STATEMENT:
Send an email to: osd.mc-alex.ousd-p-r.mbx.dacodai@mail.mil with your statement and/or let them know you want to attend in-person or on Zoom. Make sure you tell them you’re with STARRS and your military affiliation. Once registered, you will get a confirmation and later the Zoom link.
NOTE: Deadline for statements and registration is Friday, 26 April.
Your statement will be given to the committee members ahead of the meeting to read, then later posted on their website.
Their stated purpose of the meeting is
“for the DACODAI to receive briefings and have discussions on topics related to racial/ethnic diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity within the Armed Forces of the United States.”
It’s important for those who recognize the harm the divisive CRT/DEI ideology is doing to the military to monitor the Pentagon’s push of this ideology at the highest levels. Your attendance and/or statements give the committee the “diversity of thought” that they very much lack on this issue.
STARRS members and leaders, including Lt. General Rod Bishop (USAF ret) will be attending this public meeting in Arlington, VA and we invite you to join us. Let us know if you’ll be there in-person. If you can’t travel here, watch on Zoom and say you are with STARRS.
DETAILS:
Location:
Association of the United States Army Conference and Event Center
2425 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201
(Right outside Washington, DC near the Pentagon)
Dates:
Thursday, May 2, 2024
9:00 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. Eastern Time
Friday, May 3, 2024
9:00 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. Eastern Time
DEI Briefings:
Thursday:
(1) The Center for Naval Analysis briefing: “Exploring Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in the Military Justice System” by by Dr. Elizabeth Clelan, Research Program Director, Navy Human Resources Program
(2) The Office of Force Resiliency (OFR) briefing: “Violence Prevention Cell and Office of People Analytics—Command Climate Assessment and the Defense Organizational Climate Survey” by Dr. Rachel Clare, Evaluation Specialist, OFR, and Dr. Ashlea Klahr, Acting Director, DoD OPA
(3) The Department of Defense Talent Management by Mr. Brynt Parmeter, Chief Talent Management Officer, OUSD(P&R)
Overview of Public Written Comment Submissions
Friday:
(1) The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Strategy by Mr. Jerry Laurienti, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, CIA, Ms. Helene Diiorio, CIA Director’s External Communications
(STARRS NOTE: In December, one of the committee members rebuked the military by saying the CIA has reached 50% males/50% females so why haven’t the armed forces (the committee does not cover DoD civilians) reached the same 50/50 percentage? The response was that was the goal and that DOD was looking to find and remove barriers so that the 50/50 percentage could reached. The PRC armed forces will be pleased with the American military marginalizing and pushing out male warriors.)
(2) RAND Studies:
(1) Impact of Eligibility Requirements and Propensity to Serve on Demographic Representation in the Department of the Air Force by Dr. Louse Mariano, Senior Statistician, RAND
(2) Envisioning a New Racial Grievance Reporting and Redress System for the U.S. Military Focused Analysis on the Department of the Air Force by Dr. Dwayne Butler, Senior Management Scientist, Professor of Policy Analyses, Pardee RAND Graduate School
(3) DoD Inspector General (DoDIG) Military Leadership Diversity Commission Recap of Military Service Component’s Progress by Ms. Aimee Hughes, Project Manager, Evaluations, DoDIG
DACODAI: A Little-Known Cultural Agent Pushing the CRT/DEI Agenda in the Military
Additional Material Worth Sharing with the DACODAI Committee
Evidence that the DEI/CRT agenda in the military DOES hurt recruiting and retention
We cannot let DoD get away with this travesty. Those who took a financial hit from the open meeting cancellation should take action to be reimbursed for expenses that could not be recovered. To those who planned to represent me and your like-minded warriors in person I give a sincere “thank you!”