President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the United States armed services co-authored an August 2022 memo that stipulated preferred racial quotas for Air Force recruiting efforts—spurring criticism from several Republican senators during a July 11 confirmation hearing.
Also touched on at the meeting were military challenges posed by China and Russia—among others—but festered on conservative criticism of Pentagon “woke” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Air Force commanding officer Gen. Charles “C.Q.” Brown was nominated in May by Mr. Biden to assume the chairmanship of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Joint Chiefs of Staff to succeed Army Gen. Mark Milley, who is retiring in September.
Gen. Brown—commissioned an Air Force officer 40 years ago—has accrued 3,000 hours flying F-16s over his career, including 130 hours in combat missions.
He has been the Air Force’s highest-ranking officer with a seat at the Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2020.
His July 11 appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee was his first confirmation hearing. There was no vote on his nomination.
Senators queried Gen. Brown on how to counter China in the Pacific—he led the Air Force’s Pacific Command for three years—Russia in Europe, deal with cyber security, build the nation’s defense industry, and sustain flagging modernization during the 140-minute hearing.
The Show-Stopper
But it was Sen. Eric Schmitt’s (R-Mo.) query about 80 minutes into the hearing that underscored GOP ire at the DOD’s implementation of DEI policies that they believe is contributing to the worst recruiting shortfalls in the 50-year history of the nation’s volunteer military.
“General,” the former Missouri attorney general asked, “do we have too many white officers in the Air Force?”
“Senator,” Gen. Brown replied, “what I really look at is the quality of all the options that we have. And we look at that aspect—everyone who’s qualified, who meets the qualifications, is promoted.”
“Well, I would agree with you, but that is not the answer, not consistent with your Aug. 29 [2022] memo,” Sen. Schmitt said.
According to that memo, he said, 67.5 percent of the Air Force’s officers should be white, 15 percent Hispanic/Latino, 13 percent African-American, 10 percent Asian American, 1.5 percent American Indian/Native Alaskan, and 1 percent Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
By John Haughey
