JAG FOIA Record

Across the force › Air Force and Space Force

Across the force · Air Force and Space Force

Air Force and Space Force

A department strategic plan that sold diversity as a warfighting advantage — then a January 2025 scramble to pull the brand.
Public-source context, not Army FOIA evidence. Every item below links to its public source.

The Department of the Air Force's 2023 DEIA Strategic Plan put it plainly: "Diversity is one of America's greatest assets and a critical advantage we have over near peer competitors," and it framed attracting, recruiting, developing, and retaining a diverse Total Force as the mission (C29; third-party hosted copy). Equal outcomes dressed as lethality — the same ideology under a different seal, covering Airmen and Guardians alike.

The pipeline goals were written down earlier. The SecAF memo of 9 Aug 2022 set officer applicant-pool goals by race, ethnicity and gender (e.g., 67.5% White, 13% Black, 36% female) and ordered outreach plans and annual reports; it called the goals "aspirational" and said they "will not be used in any manner that undermines our merit-based processes" (C07; C09). That memo was revoked 27 Jan 2025 (C08).

On 22 Jan 2025 the department ordered DEIA media pulled, EO 14035 documents withdrawn, and DEIA training and contracts cancelled (B11). Barrier analysis working groups were disestablished (B12, B13). The Acting SecAF memo of 27 Jan 2025 "directs cessation of all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) considerations regarding the … officer applicant pools" (C08); the government told a court composition goals ended 6 Feb (B15). DAF revised accession and board instructions in writing by late January through early March 2025 (C08; B15; B02; B02 is a third-party copy). The Army release has no revised LAAB instruction after the 24 Jan 2025 MOI (F1708-p1649). AD 2025-01 voided DEI references in Army MOIs on its own terms (S13), so that gap is a records gap, not proof the rule was applied.

The Space Force sits in the Department of the Air Force; DAF items below cover both services.

The build-out, 2020–2024

2021-06Congressional testimonyconfirmed
The Space Force personnel chief's written FY22 posture testimony stated the Space Force's commitment to recruiting and retaining a diverse force.
“The Space Force is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse force”
Source: C27: DAF (USSF) Chief of Personnel written testimony for military personnel posture hearing FY22 (airandspaceforces.com)
2022-08-09Service secretariat memoconfirmed
A Secretary of the Air Force memo set officer applicant pool goals by race, ethnicity and gender (e.g., 67.5% White, 13% Black, 10% Asian, 15% Hispanic/Latino, 36% female) for the Academy, ROTC, OTS and Space Force direct commissioning, and ordered outreach plans and annual progress reports. The memo called the goals aspirational and said they would not be used to undermine merit-based processes.
“it is imperative that the composition of our Military Services better reflect our Nation's highly talented, diverse, and eligible population”
Source: C08: DAF memo: Revocation of Officer Source of Commission Applicant Pool Goals Memo (af.mil, archived copy); C07: DAF memo: Officer Source of Commission Applicant Pool Goals (af.mil, archived copy); C09: Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force sets new aspirational goals for diversity in officer applicants (airandspaceforces.com)
2023Service planlikely (copy on a non-government host)
The 2023 DAF DEIA Strategic Plan called diversity a critical advantage over near-peer competitors and set a mission of attracting, recruiting, developing and retaining a diverse Total Force.
“Diversity is one of America's greatest assets and a critical advantage we have over near peer competitors.”
Source: C29: Department of the Air Force DEIA Strategic Plan 2023 (copy on non-government host) (starrs.us)

The 2025 rollback

2025-01-22Service secretariat memoconfirmed
An Acting Assistant Secretary (M&RA) memo ordered DEIA office media taken down, EO 14035 documents and equity plans withdrawn, and DEIA training and contracts cancelled by 23 Jan 2025.
Source: B11: DAF Acting ASAF(M&RA) memo Implementation of EOs (DEIA media training contracts) (web.archive.org)
2025-01-23News reportlikely (news; memo not obtained)
DAF Barrier Analysis Working Groups were disestablished.
Source: B12: Military.com: Air Force barrier analysis working groups disestablished (military.com); B13: Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force shuts down DEI programs (airandspaceforces.com)
2025-01-27Service secretariat memoconfirmed
The Acting Secretary of the Air Force revoked the Aug 2022 applicant pool goals and ended DEI considerations in officer applicant pools, including DEI reporting.
“directs cessation of all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) considerations regarding the Department of the Air Force (DAF) officer applicant pools”
Source: C08: DAF memo: Revocation of Officer Source of Commission Applicant Pool Goals Memo (af.mil, archived copy)
2025-03-01DoD reportlikely (single copy on a non-government host)
DAF reported updating its Command Selection Board instruction to remove DEI and stopping race, ethnicity and sex data in promotion board reports.
Source: B02: RAFF-TF Initial Report to SecDef (released under FOIA 25-F-3131) (starrs.us)
2025-04-17GAO reportconfirmed (statuses) / likely (counts, OCR)
GAO counted about 103 DAF DEI positions before sec. 1101, the most of any service, with a Chief Diversity and Inclusion position at each major and field command.
Source: B03: GAO-25-107397 DoD DEI Workforce Reductions (slides 13 and 32 and Fig. 2) (web.archive.org)
2025-08-11Court recordconfirmed
SFFA v. U.S. Air Force Academy (filed Dec 2024) was held in abeyance after the 2025 memos and then voluntarily dismissed.
Source: B15: SFFA v. USAFA D. Colo. 1:24-cv-03430 Consent Motion to Hold Case in Abeyance (Doc 23) (starrs.us); B16: SFFA v. USAFA docket (voluntary dismissal; case terminated) (pacermonitor.com)