Air Force finds racial disparities among its ranks

Black members of the Air Force are treated differently than their white counterparts when it comes to criminal investigations, administrative discipline, job placement, leadership opportunities and educational options, according to the findings of a months-long investigation by the service’s independent watchdog.

In a 150-page report released Monday, the Air Force Inspector General’s office recommended that leaders develop action plans and schedule additional reviews to ensure that changes are made.

The report stopped short of declaring systemic racism in the Air Force, but found that two out of five Black members of the service do not trust their leaders to address racism, bias and unequal opportunities, and three out of five believe they will not receive the same benefit of the doubt as their white colleagues if they get in trouble.

“We’re analyzing root causes and taking appropriate actions to address these challenges,” Gen. Charles Brown Jr., the service’s top officer, said in a statement. “Now we must all move forward with meaningful, lasting, and sustainable change.”

The investigation was directed by Air Force leaders in June amid a nationwide reckoning involving race after the police killing of George Floyd triggered protests across the country. The nonprofit Protect Our Defenders had just released a report in May detailing how the service had mostly failed to follow through on a promise to address racial disparities in 2016.

Senior Air Force leaders, including now-retired Gen. David Goldfein, the service’s former top officer, began speaking about race as an issue of concern regularly over the summer.

In a memo released shortly after Floyd’s death, Goldfein told airmen that “what happens on America’s streets is also resident in our Air Force,” and that the service needed to deal with it.

More than 123,000 airmen responded to the request for feedback, Lt. Gen. Sami Said, the Air Force inspector general, said.

“The things that surprised me: The pent-up angst on the topic,” he said. “The volume was surprising. When we asked for feedback, I expected to get feedback. But we were just drowned with feedback.”