Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion Public Meeting – DEC 2023

Attend in person, watch online and/or submit a statement to this DOD public meeting on DEI in the military:

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
[Req No. OS-2024-00033-FR]

Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion; Notice of Federal Advisory Committee Meeting

AGENCY: Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD(P&R)), Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION: Notice of Federal Advisory Committee meeting.

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SUMMARY: DoD is publishing this notice to announce that the following Federal Advisory Committee meeting of the Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACODAI) will occur.

(Background on DACODAI: The Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACODAI) is composed of prominent civilian leaders appointed by the Secretary of Defense to provide independent advice and recommendations on matters and policies relating to improve the racial/ethnic diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity in the Armed Forces of the United States.

DACODAI gathers information from multiple sources, to include briefings and written responses from Defense Department, Service-level military representatives, and subject matter experts. In addition, the Committee collects qualitative data from focus groups and interactions with Service members during installation visits. To evenly distribute the research, the Committee is structured into three subcommittees: (1) Racial/Ethnic Diversity; (2) Racial/Ethnic Inclusion and (3) Racial/Ethnic Equal Opportunity and Treatment. Based upon the data collected and analyzed, the Committee submits recommendations and continuing concerns to the Secretary of Defense.)

DATES: DACODAI will hold an open-to-the-public meeting–Thursday, December 14, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (EST) and Friday, December 15, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. EST.

ADDRESSES: The in-person meeting will be held at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Conference and Event Center, 2425 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201.

In addition, the meeting will be held via videoconference. Participant access information will be provided after registering.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Designated Federal Officer (DFO), Ms. Shirley Raguindin, (571) 645-6952 (voice), osd.mc-alex.ousd-p-r.mbx.dacodai@mail.mil (email). Additional information is also available at the DACODAI website: https://www.dhra.mil/DACODAI.

Availability of Materials for the Meeting: Additional information, including the agenda or any updates to the agenda, is available on the DACODAI website: https://www.dhra.mil/DACODAI/. Materials presented in the meeting may also be obtained on the DACODAI website.

Purpose of the Meeting: The 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.

In addition, the committee members will vote on the 2023 DACODAI proposed recommendations for the Secretary of Defense.

Agenda:

Thursday, December 14, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EST.

DACODAI will begin in open session on December 14, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EST with opening remarks by Ms. Shirley Raguindin, the DFO and the DACODAI’s Chair, General (Gen.) (Ret.) Lester Lyles,

The DACODAI will receive the following briefings:

(1) the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) on Diversity and Inclusion by Colonel Lynn Ray, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, AFRICOM

(2) the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Progress by Dr. Lisa Arfaa, Director, Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and

(3) the Defense Testing and Assessment Center Diversity and Inclusion Efforts by Dr. Tia Fechter.

Closing remarks will be provided by the Chair, Gen. (Ret.) Lyles, and Ms. Shirley Raguindin, DACODAI DFO, will adjourn the meeting.

Friday, December 15, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. EST.

The DACODAI will begin in an open session on December 15, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. EST with opening remarks by Ms. Shirley Raguindin, the DFO and the DACODAI’s Chair, Gen. (Ret.) Lester Lyles.

The DACODAI will vote on proposed recommendations for the Secretary of Defense.

Closing remarks will be provided by the Chair, Gen. (Ret.) Lyles, and Ms. Shirley Raguindin, DACODAI DFO, will adjourn the meeting.

Meeting Accessibility: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b and 41 CFR 102-3.140 and 102-3.150, this meeting is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EST on December 14, 2023; and from 9:00 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. EST on December 15, 2023.

The meeting will be held via videoconference. The number of participants is limited and is on a first-come basis. All members of the public who wish to participate must register by contacting DACODAI at osd.mc-alex.ousd-p-r.mbx.dacodai@mail.mil or by contacting Ms. Shirley Raguindin at (571) 645-6952 no later than Friday, December 8, 2023 (by 5:00 p.m. EST). Once registered, the web address and/or audio number will be provided.

Written Statements: Pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.140(c) and section 10(a)(3) of the FACA, the public or interested parties may submit written statements to the DACODAI membership about the DACODAI’s mission and functions.

Written statements may be submitted at any time or in response to the stated agenda of planned meetings of the DACODAI.

All written statements shall be submitted to the DFO, Ms. Shirley Raguindin, for the DACODAI, who will ensure that the written statements are provided to the membership for their consideration.

All written statements will be submitted to mailing address, 4800 Mark Center Drive, Suite 06E22, Alexandria, VA 22350.

Members of the public interested in making an oral statement must submit a written statement.

If a statement is not received by Friday, December 8, 2023, it may not be provided to or considered by the DACODAI during this biannual business meeting.

After reviewing the written statements, the Chair and the DFO will determine if the requesting person(s) can make an oral presentation.

The DFO will review all timely submissions with the DACODAI Chair and ensure they are provided to the members of the DACODAI.

Members of the public may also email written statements to osd.mc-alex.ousd-p-r.mbx.dacodai@mail.mil.

Written statements pertaining to the meeting agenda for the DACODAI’s meeting on December 14, 2023, must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. EST, Friday, December 8, 2023, to be considered by the DACODAI membership prior to its December 14, 2023 meeting.

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office

H/T: Commander Salamander’s Substack

Great list of questions from one of the comments:

“They  deserve a lot of written input, since they are asking for it.

Might even ask if the DOD DEI(etc) establishment is experiencing any manning shortfalls at a time when overall DOD is seriously below strength.

What is the impact on DEI goal setting and achievement in light of the high percentages of minority youths who are ineligible for service due to failure to complete high school, low test scores, history of drug abuse and criminal records? Or, are we trying to change qualification standards to enlist more of those folks so “the military looks like America”?

Have they been able to quantify the “benefits of diversity” yet?

What is the cost in annual funding and billets for the DEI zampolit empire?

Are we closer to the DEI goals now because we are recruiting more qualified minorities, or has that percentage risen due to a drop in the number of qualified non-minority (evil militaristic white males with military heritage) has dropped precipitously?

What studies have been done on the effect of female members becoming non-deployable with their units?

What resources have been expended on “trans” personnel, and how many “trans” personnel are in each of the services? Have their actual military service benefits been worth the actual cost, other than counting towards DEI goals?

What are the comparable DEI metrics from the armed forces of China, Russia, Israel, Iran, UK, Canada, or other nations of interest?

What percentage of personnel in DOD DEI billets are veterans?

What is the breakdown of DOD DEI personned by race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other DEI metrics? How does this compare to the U.S. population and DOD population?”