Opinion on Hispanic Americans in
the Senior Ranks of the Armed Forces
His View 46 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 26, No. 6, 2020
By William D. Rodriguez
Rear Admiral, United States Navy, Retired
Board Member, Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance (HVLA)
Past President, Association of Naval Services Officers (ANSO)
The continuing focus on Diversity and Inclusion has
become more of a "Race issue" and a "Gender
issue" than an "Ethnicity issue". The Hispanic
American population has grown to be the largest minority
group in this country, and yet our Armed Forces still do not
reflect “the face of the nation” regarding the Hispanic
American population. This is particularly true in the Flag
and General Officer, senior officer and senior enlisted
ranks. Like what was done for the African Americans over
forty-five years ago regarding Affirmative Action, there
should be a renewed focus on the ethnic communities,
specifically the Hispanic American Community.
Furthermore, there should be an in-depth analysis of the
demographics of Hispanic Americans in the Armed Forces
and specifically in its senior ranks, and the DoD and the
Services should take an approach towards tracking and
mentoring of Hispanic Americans to advocate for them,
ensure they are fully qualified for promotion into the
senior ranks, and are given a fair and objective
opportunity for promotion without prejudice or
discrimination.
The issues concerning prejudice, discrimination,
diversity and inclusion will probably not go away in our
lifetime. However, the issue concerning the extremely low
number of Hispanic Americans in the senior ranks is the
result of a total lack of leadership awareness. If we look
towards the leadership within the Armed Forces for closer
mentoring of Hispanic Americans, strive for the highest
meritocracy and push for positions of the highest visibility
for Hispanic Americans, then we might make some
well-founded headway. We need to examine who is
coming up in the ranks and strongly advocate for them.
DoD and the respective Services should analyze the
reasons why highly qualified Hispanic Americans were not
promoted, understand why others were promoted,
including possible bias, prejudice, and discrimination,
and then make that analysis known.
It is difficult to understand that of all the highly
qualified Hispanic Americans who are serving at the O-6
level in our Armed Forces, that very few, if any, “meet the
requirements” of the precepts for the Flag and General
Officer promotion boards and are not promoted to Flag or
General Officer.There are several O-6s whose records and
performance in tough leadership positions show that they
are above their peers and meet the requirements of the
promotion board precepts, and yet, they are not selected
for Flag or General Officer. There is no question that the
importance of meritocracy, rather than the importance
of any racial, ethnic or diversity label, is understood in
most organizations. Is there an issue of subjectivity, or
objectivity, on the promotion board? Is there unconscious
discrimination and bias at the more senior promotion
boards?
Lastly, the retention concerns of senior Hispanic
American officers and enlisted, and why the promotion
zone pools contain a small number, if any, of Hispanic
Americans should be analyzed. Many Hispanic American
officers and enlisted are retiring at their first opportunity
thereby reducing the pool of qualified Hispanic American
officers and enlisted who could possibly be promoted into
the higher ranks and therefore reflect the “leadership face
of the nation”. We must work on retaining our best
qualified Hispanic Americans past their 20-year point.
The recruitment of Hispanic American men and
women is no longer a matter of equity, but rather a
significant necessity given the rapid growth of this
segment of the population. We must continue to exhibit
the inherent leadership qualities in continuing to promote
the importance of diversity and inclusion; eliminating
prejudice; focusing on eliminating the ethnic, racial and
gender gaps; promoting mentoring; advocating those
qualified Hispanic American officers for the “right’ jobs;
promoting Hispanic Americans to Flag and General
Officer without prejudice; supporting recruiting the best
qualified candidate; and supporting increased education
of our local youth.
LS
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William D. Rodriguez is
a board member of the
Hispanic Veterans
Leadership Alliance, a
member of Mission:
Readiness, Vice
Chairman of the board
of directors for
Vocational Solutions in
Hendersonville, NC, a
member of MOAA, and
he is a volunteer for the
Henderson County (NC)
Youth Leadership
Program. He is the
former National
President of the
Association of Naval
Services Officers;
former member of the
East San Diego County
DEFCOMM, San Diego
Foundation Science and
Technology Working
Group, San Diego
Leadership Forum,
AFCEA, ASNE and the
advisory committee to
The Citadel’s School of
Science and Math. For
fun, he currently sings
with several chorus
groups in Flat Rock and
Hendersonville, NC.
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