After months of refusing public disclosure requests, the Air Force has finally turned over a trove of documents about a broad “goal” to reduce the number of white, male applicants in its popular officer cadet program.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff C.Q. Brown (then the Air Force's highest ranking officer) Note In 2022, the chapter announced it would update its racial and gender demographic goals for applicants seeking officer positions and prioritize “diversity and inclusion.” document The documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation include a 2022 slideshow outlining the Air Force's racial and gender quotas and detailing how it hopes to “achieve” a reduction in the number of white males in its Reserve Officer Training Course (ROTC) officer applicant program. (Related: House investigation finds US “dangerously dependent” on Chinese cranes deeply embedded in major US ports)

The documents reflect the Biden-Harris Administration's focus on implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies within the military as the service continues to battle low soldier morale, recruitment and retention shortfalls and low pay.

“The American people are rightly concerned that the Air Force is focusing its recruiting efforts on arbitrary racial diversity goals, rather than on improving the strength and lethality of its forces, at a time when our nation faces dangerous and growing threats around the world,” James Fitzpatrick, president of the Center for American Security Promotion (CASA), told DCNF.

CASA requested records about the Air Force's new officer candidate standards through a federal transparency request in 2023. At the time, the Air Force said it could not find the records. letter Retrieved by DCNF.

CASA subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Air Force in April 2024 seeking access to the records and received hundreds of documents and slides in response, which were subsequently obtained by the DCNF. The Air Force did not issue a statement in time for publication.

One of the slides in question, labeled “AFROTC White,” features a graph projecting a decline in the percentage of white male ROTC officer applicants from about 60% in fiscal year 2019 to 50% in fiscal year 2023. The graph further details that the Air Force's goal is to reduce that percentage to about 43% by fiscal year 2029, indicated by an asterisk labeled “goal achieved.” (Related article: “Worth billions”: Defense companies enter gold rush with record arms orders)

“The white male population will decline in line with increases in other demographics,” the slide states.

A screenshot of an internal Air Force slide deck titled “Officer Enlisted Applicant Pool Goals, Diversity and Inclusion Outreach Plan” for January 2022.

Each of the slides in question also explains whether the Air Force is on track to meet race and gender quotas in the ROTC officer applicant pool or whether it needs to make further efforts.

For example, regarding the African-American population, the slideshow featured the Air Force's “Target [the] The Air Force is “addressing the declining male population through ongoing programs and marketing,” it said, noting that it has already met its “female goal” for ROTC officer applicants. As for American Indian, Asian and Hispanic applicants, the Air Force is “making good progress toward increasing diversity,” the slideshow said.

“These documents indicate that the Air Force has taken steps toward implementing new directives regarding specific racial quotas for officer recruitment and admissions across all branches,” Fitzpatrick told DCNF.

The slide also includes a funding request for diversity hiring initiatives, including $500,000 for a “diversity advertising campaign” and $250,000 for “influencer engagement.”

In a separate document released as early as 2022, the Air Force outlined efforts to change its ROTC scholarship program, which “plays a critical role in enlistment and diversity goals.” The Air Force suggested that changing the scholarship model could eliminate certain “testing barriers” to enlistment for underrepresented groups.

A screenshot of an internal Air Force slide deck titled “Officer Enlisted Applicant Pool Goals, Diversity and Inclusion Outreach Plan” for January 2022.

The diversity plan also extends to the Air Force's Aim High Flight Academy (AHFA), an aviation scholarship program for high school students, Reserve Officer Training Course and Air Force Academy students, according to the document. The Air Force noted that AFHA's applicant pool should be made up of “at a minimum” 60% underrepresented groups, and at least 35% must be minorities. (RELATED: Exclusive: Ex-Navy SEAL says Biden, Harris learned 'no lessons' from Afghanistan withdrawal)

Like the other services, the Air Force has struggled to meet recruiting and retention goals in recent years. The Navy is projected to miss its recruiting goals in 2024. The Marines, Army and Air Force are on track to meet their targets, but the Army and Air Force missed theirs in 2022 and 2023. According to To Military Times.

Only about 57% of military personnel and military families Voted In a 2023 survey conducted by the Military Family Advisory Network, 74% of respondents said they would encourage others to join the military, up from 74% in 2019. Reasons respondents cited for not encouraging others to join the military included the highly politicized nature of the military, disagreements and divisions, and low pay.

A year-long study by Arizona State University's Center on American Institutions found that the Defense Department has become a “vast DEI bureaucracy” over the past four decades, a challenge that has been exacerbated by the Biden-Harris administration.

“It's not surprising that record numbers of young people are opting out of military service…DEI education has become a core component of military training, beginning even at the military academy,” former Space Command commander Matt Laumeyer said in a June statement.

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