USAF: BLACKS MORE LIKELY TO INVESTIGATED, DISCIPLINED

Black service members in the US Air Force (USAF) are far more likely to be investigated, arrested, face disciplinary actions and be discharged for misconduct, according to a new report that looked at racial disparities across the service, Lolita C. Baldor reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The report by the Air Force inspector general said Black members of the Air Force and Space Force are less likely to be promoted to higher enlisted and officer ranks, and one-third of them believe they don’t get the same opportunities as their white peers. And it concluded that “racial disparity exists” for Black service members, but that the data did not explain why it happens.

The IG review examined the military justice process data going back to 2012, looked at promotion rates and other opportunities given to service members, conducted interviews, and received more than 123,000 responses to a survey.

Officials said it focused solely on Black service members to get the review done quickly, but subsequent changes would be applied more broadly to other minority groups.

Specifically, the review found that enlisted Black service members were 57% more likely than whites to face courts-martial and 72% more likely to get nonjudicial punishment as a result of an investigation.

Black troops were twice as likely to be apprehended by security and young Black enlisted members were twice as likely to be involuntarily discharged for misconduct.

Black troops also are investigated and found guilty of sexual harassment more often. Discrimination beliefs cut across the ranks.

As many as half of the Black survey respondents said they had been discriminated against because of their race.

And 45 percent of Black general officers — they include one-star to four-star generals — said they had experienced discrimination. In contrast, 94% of the white general officers said they didn’t face discrimination based on their race.

WEEKLY FEATURE

CHINKEE TAN SEEKS TO CREATE 100 MILLIONAIRES IN 2021