Envisioning a New Racial Grievance Reporting and Redress System for the United States Military: Focused Analysis on the Department of the Air Force
Abstract
In May 2020, a viral video of the police killing of an African American civilian, George Floyd, sparked widespread outrage, protests, and civil unrest across the United States and abroad. It also led to many societal efforts to reexamine racial injustice in America, including in the U.S. military. This report informs military efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the armed forces through an examination of policies and structures that constitute the racial grievance system. Racial and ethnic bias, abuse, prejudice, harassment, discrimination, and injustice threaten the military's ability to meet its mission, and they create vulnerabilities that adversaries can exploit. Negative impacts could span military recruitment, retention, unit cohesion, readiness, performance, leadership, talent management, and the health and welfare of the force. Thus, it is imperative that racial grievances are brought swiftly to the attention of military leaders and that leaders address the issues fairly, effectively, and in a timely manner. This report identifies gaps, ambiguities, inconsistencies, and reported problems in the military racial grievance system and offers recommendations for improvement and further evaluation. The research reported here was conducted as part of a RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) initiative to support DEI within the Department of the Air Force. Oversight of the initiative was provided by Ray Conley, with research concept formulation funding provided by the Department of the Air Force for PAF-wide research. It was conducted within the Workforce, Development, and Health Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE as part of a fiscal year 2021 project, Envisioning a New Racial Grievance Reporting and Redress System for the U.S. Military.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 19, 2024
- Accession Number
- AD1219194
Entities
People
- Albert M. Esposito
- Chong H. Gregory
- Dwayne M. Butler
- Ignacio A. Lara
- Jeannette Tsuei
- Leslie A. Payne
- Michael J. Gaines
- Sarah W. Denton
Organizations
- RAND Corporation