Air Force violating federal DEI ban, says congressman
The US Air Force is violating a federal ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) revealed in a letter last week.
DEI rebranded
Congressional Republicans slipped a provision into this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that prohibits the Department of Defense from creating any new DEI roles or filling any vacant DEI positions. It also places limits on the salary of any civilian employee whose “primary duties are DEI.”
However, “[r]ather than following the law, it appears that the Air Force has simply rebranded DEI,” Rep. Banks wrote in the letter, obtained by the Daily Wire. The letter was addressed to Alex Wagner, assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower & reserve affairs.
Banks, who serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Personnel, explained that the Air Force has created an “Organizational Cultural Program” that employs Organizational Cultural Coordinators (OCCs). These OCCs coordinate “divisive and costly DEI training delivered by a paid contractor.”
When Banks asked Air Force officials about these OCCs, they did not deny that they serve DEI functions. However, the officials argued that the OCCs are not covered by the DEI ban because they have “expanded duties beyond ‘DEI’.”
In April, the Air Force published a memo titled “Standard Core Personnel Documents Directive for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Positions.” The document stated that the Air Force “requires intentionally designing a force that leverages the talents of our diverse Nation . . .”
In addition, the Air Force has hired civilian contractor Team Triad to train employees on “supporting systemic equity.” This appears to circumvent the anti-DEI law by contracting out DEI training instead of creating positions for it in-house.
Banks’ letter comes after reports that the US Air Force Academy is under an Orwellian regime that employs a cadre of DEI enforcers who report to “a separate chain of command.”
‘They’d be happy to turn me in’
Former Space Force Lieutenant Colonel Matt Lohmeier was discharged in 2021 after voicing criticism of DEI ideology in the military. Earlier this month, he told “Fox and Friends Saturday” host Joey Jones that Space Force members are willing to turn each other in for disloyalty to DEI ideology.
“A fellow commander informed me that they’re aware of my kind of politics and that they’d be happy to turn me into the base commander if I continued to privately criticize our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,” Lohmeier said. “But this problem has grown far beyond what I experienced, personally and professionally in the military workplace.”
Special uniforms for DEI enforcers
The former commander added that at the Air Force Academy — where Lohmeier attended — a special DEI enforcement troop polices the cadets and reports to a different command.
“My own alma mater, the U.S. Air Force Academy, has diversity and inclusion cadet officers who wear a special insignia within their cadet squadrons, they wear purple braided rope over the shoulders and they report to a separate chain of command other than their military chain of command, relating to diversity and inclusion issues,” he continued. “It reminds one of Soviet political commissars that have been established both in the Soviet Union and in other Marxist revolutionary efforts throughout the last century.”
‘Eyes and ears’ programs
Lohmeier co-authored a recently published study on DEI initiatives in the military which found that military academies have “eyes and ears programs” that train and appoint cadets “to report overheard private conversations that challenge DEI precepts.”
“Unfortunately for the American people and for all of the men and women in uniform, it’s been considered for a number of years now to be politically partisan to speak up against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives,” Lohmeier told Jones. “And of course, anyone who looks into this matter knows it shouldn’t necessarily be considered a partisan issue. I wasn’t interested in being politically partisan while I wore the uniform of the country and was in command of a space force unit, but of course, senior military leaders, especially under the current administration, decided that because of the climate of fear that we had created for ourselves they ought to treat my criticism of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as partisan and, quote unquote, hold me accountable for speaking out against it.”
