The US Army is a model of inclusiveness and diversity. Diversity awareness is central to its education and training process and highly valued throughout the organization. In literature, online and in public promotional campaigns, the Army makes reference to its position that its strength is in its people. This paper takes a closer look at what the benefits of diversity are for this branch of the US military.
Army Diversity
The United States Army and Diversity
The United States Army has fought very hard to overcome its segregated past and become a premiere model of inclusiveness and diversity. Today, the Army is a capable, high performing, results-oriented unit -- and as richly diverse as America itself. Collaboration and the sharing of diverse viewpoints, skills, backgrounds, languages and ideas have helped improve effectiveness and quality throughout the entire organization. The Army proves that people who are culturally diverse can work together to achieve organizational goals when differences are embraced and leveraged for the common good. When that occurs, a better organization is always the end result.
Has the diversity of U.S. Army personnel strengthened or weakened the United States Army? In what manner and to what extent?
The Army views its most important asset as its people and states that "the diversity of our people is a source of strength for the Army" (Pexton, 1996). Through strategic recruitment efforts, published literature and its "Army Strong" campaign, the organization emphasizes its views on the importance of an all-inclusive culture. While the primary focus in all military recruitment is to attract people with the proper core competencies, focusing on diversity (and diversity awareness in training) has allowed the Army to attract and retain the very best talent the nation has to offer and build well-rounded environments with high performance teams that fight and win wars (Pexton, 1999). Benefits of Army diversity include the ability to better understand the nation's increasingly diverse population and the creation of environments where all personnel are motivated and inspired to serve at their highest level (Kennedy, 2006).
The Army actively encourages diversity across all ranks and specialties, citing the importance of cultural differences being not only recognized, but also valued and engaged. This spans race, gender, religion, ethnicity and other areas of difference. "In a diverse culture, different voices are understood as being legitimate and as opening up new views; they are heard and integrated in decision making and problem solving processes; they have an active role in shaping culture and fostering creativity and innovation; and eventually in adding value to the company's performance" (Von Bergen et al., 2002). The Army subscribes to this theory. In 2008, congress formed the Military Leadership Diversity Commission to analyze promotion rates for women and minorities in the military and develop strategies to make the armed forces more reflective of the nation's diverse population.
How has diversity or how could diversity impact logistics within the Army?
The United States Army is the largest and oldest established branch of seven U.S. uniformed services and consists of numbered armies, corps, divisions, brigades, and battalions that conduct full spectrum operations around the world (U.S. Army, 2010). Army logistics refer to everything a soldier may wear, eat, or use (e.g., medical treatment, fuel, weapons repair tools, etc.).
The Army is structured to deploy to remote locations as part of a joint force. To achieve this successfully, it is imperative that the workforce reflect the diversity of society, since that is a recognized source of talent and strength. Diversity enables the Army to effectively deliver on its commitments while leveraging many different perspectives, backgrounds, cultural capacities and skills (Jones, 2010). The Army is undergoing a major transformation of its force to deploy large forces and needed resources much more rapidly than it has in the past, wherever needed.
Do Army service members behave differently in the same situations based upon diversity?
There is no direct evidence to support the notion that diverse personnel behave differently in certain situations due to cultural differences. In fact, the strict training and enculturation process that the Army uses increases the likelihood that soldiers will behave similarly in certain situations, despite personal differences that might exist (Von Bergen et al., 2008).
Recruits come from different levels of culture and society. The goal of training units becomes merging divergent trainees into useful and cohesive teams (Jones, 2010). Many aspects of this training are psychological. Personnel that do not obey orders, follow instructions, or have respect for fellow soldiers are highly unlikely to be reliable in combat situations. Unit cohesion in the Army and is built upon a system of conditioning where members are taught to recognize their biases of others, redirect their energy towards common goals and partially submerge their individuality for the good of the unit (Kennedy, 2006). Diversity awareness aids this process.
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