New Pentagon Strategy Calls for Increased DEI Funding, Recruitment of ‘Non-Traditional Communities’

‘The untapped potential of underrepresented groups can be crucial, especially as the worker shortage increases,’ the document reads.

The Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Dec. 26, 2011. Staff/AFP via Getty Images

The Pentagon is releasing a new strategy for the development of the defense-industrial base, which will prioritize diversity initiatives as a means of developing the workforce.

The Department of Defense (DoD) will invest in “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives, including increased funding for programs to recruit from “non-traditional communities,” the new National Defense Industrial Strategy (pdf) says.

“The untapped potential of underrepresented groups can be crucial, especially as the worker shortage increases,” the document reads.

“Inclusive hiring practices and a diverse work culture are important for building workforce readiness.”

The DEI initiatives fall under the strategy’s priority of “workforce development.” There are three other areas of focus, including building resilient supply chains, employing flexible acquisition, and leveraging economic deterrence.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Taylor-Kale said that the DoD would work to “destigmatize” industrial work and to “mobilize the defense industrial base” to improve national security.

“I am so happy that workforce readiness is one of our four strategic priorities,” Ms. Taylor-Kale said during a Jan. 11 talk at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

“This strategy is really an opportunity and the first time that the Defense Department in recent years has put pen to paper and outlined a strategic vision for what it is that we need in order to have a modernized, innovative, resilient defense industrial base that can meet current demands and challenges but also address future and pacing threats.”

Pentagon Links DEI to Innovation

The strategy connects its recommended DEI investments to a larger effort by the Pentagon to “increase the number of graduates, including underrepresented minorities, in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields important to the defense mission.”

Investments in research and education programs at historically black colleges and universities and “minority-serving institutions” are vital to ensure a robust workforce, according to the document.

“Lack of diversity leads to a lack of new ideas and innovation,” the document reads.

“Workforce readiness will provide for a sufficiently skilled and staffed workforce that is diverse and representative of America.”

The strategy builds on other DEI projects, such as a $62 million initiative announced in May of last year to fund research and education programs at historically black colleges and universities.

Those rewards were distributed as “the result of a merit competition,” according to the Pentagon.

DoD Seeks to ‘Shape Legislation,’ Request More Funding

Beyond diversity, the new document calls on DoD leadership to “shape legislation” to encourage defense companies to increase capacity, even when there is no demand.

This “spare production capacity,” the document says, is needed to sustain levels of industrial readiness to prepare for unforeseen contingencies.

In order to pay for such excess, the document suggests finding more funding for the defense industrial base and offering tax breaks.

“Congress can explore allocating additional funding for contracts and other incentives (tax incentives, regulatory relief, long-term contracts) aimed specifically at building and maintaining spare production capacity,” the document says.

The Biden administration has repeatedly said that increasing funding to U.S. defense companies to provide weapons to foreign powers is good for the economy.

Analysts, journalists, and even presidential candidates have lambasted that claim, however, with some accusing the administration of war profiteering in Ukraine, Israel, and elsewhere.

For her part, Ms. Taylor-Kale said it was important to send “consistent demand signals” to the defense industrial base in order to encourage the maintenance of supply chains before a conflict or crisis emerged.

“In my view, we can’t afford to wait,” she said.