By Rear Admiral William D. Rodriguez, US Navy, ret
STARRS Board of Advisors
Past Board Member, Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance (HVLA)
Past National President, Association of Naval Services Officers (ANSO)
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“DEI is derivative of neo-Marxist identitarian ideologies that attribute virtually all average group differences — from arrest rates to medical school admissions — to systemic discrimination.”*
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Since 2004, I have been closely associated with the Hispanic affinity groups, namely ANSO and HVLA, supporting Americans of Hispanic Descent in our Armed Forces, specifically in the Sea Services (Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard).
During that time frame, I have personally seen, and experienced, the erosion of meritocracy, the defocus of team work and unit cohesion, the decrease in morale, and the decrease in retention and recruitment. A common cause for this overall decrease has been the introduction of the corrosive policies of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
This opinion piece discusses a recent incident that happened to me, and the hypocrisy in an organization with which I was faithful.
After writing my opinion letter for STARRS this past May to the Defense Advisory Council On Diversity And Inclusion (DACODAI) regarding the disastrous policies of DEI and its detrimental effects to our Armed Forces, I received an interesting phone call from the Chairman of the HVLA Board of Directors.
He had just finished reading my opinion letter and called me to tell me that he disagreed with my letter. Fine, but he immediately stated that my opinion letter was “politically motivated”, and by extension, STARRS was politically motivated as well.
Further, he stated that DEI was critical the mission of the Armed Forces in that our senior officer ranks do not “reflect the face of the nation”. He went on to tell me that he had sat on a number of promotion boards and “noticed” that systemic racism was rampant in our Armed Forces.
When I questioned him, he had no definitive data to support his assertions, other than we have a low number of representative minorities in the Flag and General Officer ranks.
He asked me why I changed my mind from when I joined HVLA in 2019 to now.
My response was that after 20 years of dealing with Diversity and other DEI Policies in the DoD, and specifically in the Sea Services, I reaffirmed what I stated from the start that it was truly meritocracy, NOT the elements of DEI, that was the driving force for promotion and selection for command.
I asked him what metric he was using to determine that DEI is improving mission readiness, but all he could say was that Hispanics were not fully represented in the senior/Flag/General ranks.
I told him that I sat on nine statutory boards and four administrative boards, and that I saw NO evidence of any systemic racism.
He had no response, and I further stated that just because we have a small number of Americans of Hispanic Descent in our senior officer ranks, that does not mean that we are systemically racist. Rather, it means that we are doing a poor job of mentoring, managing careers, and advocating and supporting our junior officers in order to help them become the best qualified candidates for promotion and selection for command.
Further, I told him that my letter and that STARRS was NOT politically motivated, rather it was the truth about the falsehoods of DEI, and that HVLA needs to take a strong look in the mirror given their tight association with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus which is primarily aligned with supporters of DEI, and its 501(c)3 status given this political affiliation.
I further told him that I did listen in to the DACODAI meeting in early May, and I heard nothing from the many briefs about how DEI was improving mission readiness!
Again, he had no response. Moreover, he has obviously not read my second opinion letter concerning DEI and its impact on Americans of Hispanic Descent.
Lastly, and this is the point of my opinion letter, he told me that because I had changed my “tune” towards DEI, that I would be removed from the HVLA roster.
So, if I did not continue to “sing their tune”, am I no longer welcome? It is obvious that they do not want to hear any opposing views. There are many organizations that are strongly opinionated in one direction or another. Those organizations will not hear any opposing view, and if you espouse an opposing view, you are ousted.
You have heard it before, and I am sure many of you have been faced with the same situation, if you oppose a particular organization’s opinion, you are no longer welcome! In my opinion, this is extremely unprofessional, one-sided, and does not help that particular organization grow.
This is especially true if that organization claims to be apolitical, diverse and believes in equality. Ironic and hypocritical isn’t it!? So I am out of HVLA … persona non grata!
The more I talk with people, especially those Americans of Hispanic Descent, the more I find that they agree with me and that DEI is ruining our Armed Forces and eroding our mission readiness with its focus on the elements of Wokeness and DEI!
After 15 years of existence, DACODAI and its predecessors have yet to clearly and objectively articulate how DEI has improved, and will improve, mission readiness and the lethality of our Armed Forces.
We, at STARRS and other like organizations, have been able to articulate the opposite—how DEI has hindered mission readiness, retention and recruitment—and that this distraction to our mission drives down lethality of our Armed Forces.
So, what are the actual results of the various DEI actions being taken by DoD and the Services relative to improving mission readiness and the lethality in the defense of our nation as specified in our Constitution?
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“Whether we were talking about infantry squads, aviation, or submarines, our priorities and standard of review were clear: “Equal opportunity (EO) in the military is important, but if there is a conflict between equal opportunity and the needs of the military, the needs of the military must come first.” ” **
* THE HILL – What do we really mean by ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’? by Robert Maranto, Michael Mills and Catherine Salmon, Opinion Contributors – 11/07/22 2:00 PM ET
** Statement of Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military Readiness, Submitted for the Record of the Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity & Inclusion (DACODAI), May 2, 2024
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