Army ditches officer promotion photos
to combat bias, says strength
'comes from our diversity'
Washington Times,
by
Douglas Ernst
Original Article
Posted By: Ribicon,
6/25/2020 2:54:27 PM
The U.S. Army says its time to ditch photos in officer promotion board packages as a way guaranteeing a diverse racial aesthetic. The move, which will go into effect Aug. 1, was confirmed by Military.com on Thursday and comes shortly after the creation of the “Defense Board on Diversity and Inclusion.” “The strength of our Army comes from our diversity,” leaders wrote in a memo obtained by the defense website. “Developing and maintaining qualified and demographically diverse leadership is critical for mission effectiveness and is essential to national security.” Reporter Hope Hodge Seck noted that photos were historically used by Army leaders to gauge “military bearing,
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Italiano 6/25/2020 2:57:55 PM (No. 456899)
America seems to have descended far below the point of diminishing returns on that "diversity" quest. On many levels.
Oh what the hell, we've been out of the war-winning business since 1945 anyway.
29 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 6/25/2020 3:06:55 PM (No. 456906)
Ummm - - like - - if I wanted help from the Army - - I'd want someone who is tough, patriotic, and courageous - -
- - not someone who is "diverse."
But hey - - that's just silly me.
42 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
MrDeplorable 6/25/2020 3:08:02 PM (No. 456909)
Hahaha. This latest king-stupid idea will actually HURT minorities because when the Board knew what an officer looked like, they would automatically apply AFFIRMATIVE ACTION which boosted the ethnic officer's chances but now they'll have to compete on straight-up merit. Hmm, not a bad idea, that.
28 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
jntsrgn 6/25/2020 3:08:26 PM (No. 456910)
Please explain how "diversity" has any inherent strength? It is far more plausible that diversity leads to inefficiency and lack of cohesion. The very idea that something is inherently better because it is diverse is pure claptrap.
38 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
GO3 6/25/2020 3:14:54 PM (No. 456917)
A photo may not show talent, but it sure as hell shows an out of shape fatso and/or a sloppily dressed and unprofessional officer. But what the heck, some of those guys have been getting promoted for years.
Side note: I finally saw Midway last week. It looked like the officers uniforms had been ironed with a tennis shoe. It was a big distraction, but that's just me.
12 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Periwinkel 6/25/2020 3:15:47 PM (No. 456922)
One of the reasons for those photos a few years ago was to insure that the Officer Corps was fit...not fat! And the Army has always prided itself on being color blind...at least till Obama lobotomized his Generals to get the PC guys in there.
26 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
fayebeck 6/25/2020 3:16:05 PM (No. 456923)
I noticed that the "chickafication" of the military was in full force during the West Point graduation ceremonies a few weeks ago. Lots of chicks and a few muslims in the graduating class. What could go wrong?
26 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
PlayItAgain 6/25/2020 3:20:15 PM (No. 456929)
My experience - diversity does not make you strong. Diversity demonstrates that you are insecure.
22 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 6/25/2020 3:20:42 PM (No. 456930)
My black Drill Sergeant taught us there was only one color in the U.S. Army... GREEN!
36 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
coyote 6/25/2020 3:21:29 PM (No. 456931)
Our strength is in our allegiance to the principles of liberty and individual rights. That is what makes an American, not skin color or ethnic membership.
18 people like this.
just thinking. In today's culture, it may be the only way a white guy could get promoted.
18 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
GoodDeal 6/25/2020 3:26:27 PM (No. 456938)
Photos let reviewers know if the candidate is squared away or not.
They need to put a face to the name. This is bullcrap.
9 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
DVC 6/25/2020 3:29:32 PM (No. 456948)
Strength comes from selecting entirely on merit.
When anyone is promoted because of skin color or sex, it harms the unit.
Maybe this will cut down on affirmative action promoting.
15 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
sanspeur 6/25/2020 3:36:52 PM (No. 456964)
sooo just enlist only the visually challenged( blind) . no physical judgements whatsoever ..not able to win a war but hey .general staff can feel virtuous now ..morons gotta moron .
And there will be no photo to send home to proud parents ..
4 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Strike3 6/25/2020 3:39:05 PM (No. 456970)
The joke will be on the diversity manipulators when minority promotions drop.
10 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Norway 6/25/2020 3:54:20 PM (No. 456984)
Idiots in top-level command = sh** floats
3 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Jesuslover54 6/25/2020 4:02:18 PM (No. 456994)
Army takes knee, totally embarrasses self, country.
7 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
BarryNo 6/25/2020 4:06:43 PM (No. 456998)
Our problem is that we have an unusual number of ass-lickers. Everywhere I go I see the people in charge cowering from violent children, begging them to leave them alone, instead of turning around and tanning their backsides.
And OMG!! so many people just drink the Koolaid and won't listen to ANY alternative solution to the media's Great Lie!
I feel powerless to help. But I also feel empowered to fight.
5 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
bighambone 6/25/2020 4:16:23 PM (No. 457007)
The Army these days must have pretty stupid promotion boards. As once such a board reviews all the promotion documentation relating to an individual soldier it is easy to figure out a soldier’s race or ethnicity if you want to. Just the soldier’s name says a lot. It seems that the Army does not trust their promotion boards to do the right thing.
3 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Laotzu 6/25/2020 4:29:22 PM (No. 457011)
So long as the file contains a name, I would need a picture to ascertain the race of the Soldier.
2 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
StrikingViking 6/25/2020 4:34:17 PM (No. 457012)
A fellow officer who was a friend of mine once sat on a promotion board. It is exhausting, high pressure work to winnow out the few winners out of the many candidates for promotion. The jump from being a "company grade" captain to being a "field grade" major is particularly challenging. He told me of one candidate who was easy to grade. He posed for his photo using two 1st Lieutenant bars instead of a captain's "railroad tracks." The poster who said a photo doesn't show talent is correct. But it can show many other qualities, such as the "don't give a d**n" attitude showed by that slovenly captain.
10 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 6/25/2020 4:39:15 PM (No. 457014)
I think this is a good idea. Promotion on merit not looks.
3 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
Jethro bo 6/25/2020 4:45:48 PM (No. 457019)
If diversity is so gosh darn good, why then does the army train, treat and expect its soldiers in one, non diverse program? Strength in one not the many seems to be the army way.
3 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
Right Time 6/25/2020 5:01:00 PM (No. 457032)
I guess the photos might impede a transsexual from getting a job when you that photo of a 6'-3"-260 lb "female" officer?
4 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
marbles 6/25/2020 5:05:21 PM (No. 457036)
Our strength comes from assimilation.
6 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
red1066 6/25/2020 5:22:14 PM (No. 457048)
BS. Diversity is never a strength. It weakens.
6 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 6/25/2020 5:29:08 PM (No. 457054)
“The strength of our Army comes from our diversity,”
No, it doesn't. That's nothing but a tired lie that we have been hearing for years. It's been repeated countless times by nitwit flag officers for PC purposes. "Diversity " as it's practiced now means it actually weakens our military. I recall that many years ago, our government decided that it was wrong to have a box to fill out the race of the applicant for a loan or a mortgage so they had it eliminated. After it was implemented and in place, it suddenly occurred to them that there was now no way to count if minorities were getting their 'fair share' of loans. As posters have noticed, this could very well reduce the number of black oficer promotions.
6 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
stablemoney 6/25/2020 6:08:36 PM (No. 457100)
Diversity is the goal--not developing a lethal force? It looks like time to demote the Army leaders.
5 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
Illinois Mom 6/25/2020 6:09:43 PM (No. 457103)
Is "E pluribus unum" not our thing anymore?
3 people like this.
Hmmph...perhaps the name Michael Aloysius O’Brien or Jamal Candonuffin or Barrack Hussein LaChief would give an indicator. Oh shoot, better delete name and sex too.
3 people like this.
They actually did this in colleges. It resulted in more whites and Asians getting admitted.
So, this will backfire.
1 person likes this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
MickTurn 6/25/2020 6:20:18 PM (No. 457117)
Work hard, get promoted and we will crap on your birthday cake...Yep, the Army has NOT changed one bit since I was drafted in 1967!
3 people like this.
Diversity = Balkanization.
3 people like this.
Reply 34 - Posted by:
padiva 6/25/2020 7:34:27 PM (No. 457186)
A Marine officer needed an assistant. He asked for eligible candidates who were also Eagle scouts. My nephew was the second Marine interviewed and got the job.
BTW, this officer attended my nephew's Eagle ceremony when the officer was assigned to the Pentagon.
1 person likes this.
Reply 35 - Posted by:
WV.Hillbilly 6/25/2020 7:59:43 PM (No. 457213)
How about names? Are they next?
Will Da'Mar'Kis Shabazz get a fair shake?
0 people like this.
Reply 36 - Posted by:
Ashley Brenton 6/25/2020 9:44:35 PM (No. 457295)
Could someone have looked at a photo of Ulysses S. Grant and determined from that his potential to become America's greatest strategic general officer?
I doubt it.
0 people like this.
Reply 37 - Posted by:
Tet Vet 68 6/25/2020 11:37:40 PM (No. 457366)
All the out of shape fatties, regardless of race creed or color, can now scoot under the radar with the promotion board. What is next pray tell.
1 person likes this.
Reply 38 - Posted by:
Goose 6/26/2020 6:16:02 AM (No. 457496)
I'm so old, I recall that the photos were added so promotion boards could be sure that some minority candidates were selected.
1 person likes this.
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Diversity and full embracement of Marxist ideology, rather than competence or respect for the US Constitution, is critical for mission effectiveness and essential to national security. Still think Obama was an ineffective president? Heck, he runs the show even now; his well-funded civilian army is destroying our cities while the police stand by, and the real military signals on all fronts its willingness to side with anyone other than we the people. Shocking, really, and it's unfolding by the minute.