Those are wonderful words with which we can all immediately agree.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the report regresses to the standard affirmative action success criterion comparing the percentages, according to rank, of the selected racial or ethnic groups, "API, Black, AI/NA, White, Hispanic" i.e. Asian-Pacific Islander, African-American, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Caucasian (European, non-Hispanic origin) and Hispanic.

The demographic representation provided in that slide presentation could be considered a non sequitur. In other words, it is a response that does not follow logically from its premise. Furthermore, to assume that "different attributes, experiences and backgrounds" are derived solely from racial or ethnic origin could be considered by some as a criterion for a definition of racism. I presume that is not what was intended.

In the military, it is widely believed that promotion boards are strongly influenced by racial, ethnic and gender proportionality schemes, a euphemism for quotas, if you will. I presume that is an unsubstantiated rumor.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced that the first meeting of the Military Leadership Diversity Commission was Sept. 17-18.

"The commission, which was established pursuant to the 'Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009,' is tasked to conduct a comprehensive evaluation and assessment of policies that provide opportunities for the promotion and advancement of minority members of the armed forces, including minority members who are senior officers," the department said.

At an April 2009 conference at the U.S. Military Academy, Brig. Gen. Belinda Pinckney, chief of the Army Diversity Office, stated: "Diversity makes us better and more equipped to meet the challenges and threats of the 21st century. Diversity is an enabler. It enables us to benefit from a pool of different skills and move beyond preconceived notions to look at new procedures, processes, methods and structures."

Could one not just substitute the phrase equal opportunity for diversity?

I would also be interested to know what those "different skills," "preconceived notions" and "new procedures, processes, methods and structures" are, and how is the Army achieving that?

In its soldier development programs and promotion policies, is the Army measuring and using all the dimensions of diversity as stated in its 2008 Posture Statement: "race, culture, religion, gender, age, profession, organizational or functional area, tenure, personality type, functional background, education level, political party, and other demographic, socioeconomic and psychographic characteristics"?

At the West Point conference, Gen. Kip Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command said: "Why is it in our best interest to do our best in promoting (diversity) and give the sort of opportunities and things that causes every one of our citizens (whether they are) black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, male or female to be offered and afforded the opportunity to be ... all that they can be. That is important to our nation."

I would have hoped that the Army is already doing that by providing equal opportunity for all its soldiers.

Somehow over the course of political time questioning the intent or the empirical basis of diversity has become the equivalent of Holocaust denial. The phrase "strength through diversity" is uttered with same certainty as stating the Second Law of Thermodynamics. At this time of national crisis, we need more than ever to emphasize what we have in common as Americans rather than accentuate our differences.

U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., a speaker at the September 2009 Military Leadership Diversity Commission conference, wrote a letter dated June 24 to Secretary of the Army Pete Geren, which included:

"I understand that the Army is in the process of developing a strategic plan to correct this imbalance in efforts to resolve congressional concerns regarding the lack of qualified African-Americans who obtain the rank of General Officer in the Army. While the Army has made a good faith effort to address areas of minority underrepresentation, more aggressive steps are needed in order to achieve a fully diverse force and capitalize on the strength of this diversity. timeframe (sic) the Army has yet to identify concrete metrics to capture performance progress. Having addressed this issue for the past three years, the Army should be able to provide tangible results as a true measure of the leadership's commitment to institutionalizing diversity into the culture through their effective and efficient practices."

The honorable representative from Maryland raises an important point. Just what are the "concrete metrics to capture performance progress" to measure the strength of diversity, at least according to the Army's own definition of the word?

Just wondering. Maybe we should ask the New York Yankees.

(Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D., is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a veteran of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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