Admiral Thad W. Allen, Commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard, had two black classmates when he started at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Neither graduated with him in 1971.
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In the photo: Admiral Thad W. Allen, 23rd Commandant of the United States Coast Guard
"My class was as nondiverse as it could ever be, and you only run the risk of losing more people” through natural attrition as the years pass, said Allen, now commandant of the Coast Guard, who spoke Friday in an interview during a visit to the academy for homecoming weekend.
Now, Allen said, the service is “dominated by old, white males."
"I think there are a lot of people who want to be inclusive, a lot of senior people, they just don't know how," he said. “And a lot of that is a generational thing.”
So Allen asked junior and mid-grade officers about what was preventing the Coast Guard from becoming more diverse. He is now pushing several initiatives, based on their suggestions, to help the Coast Guard recruit and retain diverse personnel. Hopefully the new policy will not only reach out to diverse people using the traditional racial yardstick, but also reach out to qualified gay and lesbian Americans who choose a career of service to America through the Coast Guard.
Allen called his solutions “quick hitters” designed to help immediately and to be followed by more changes - eventual changes that will almost certainly include officer recruitment invitations to the gay and lesbian community. How "eventual" those changes will be remains to be seen, but the Admiral is definitely moving in the right direction.
Of the approximately 41,000 people serving on active duty in the Coast Guard, 26.1 percent are minorities, including 19.7 percent minority officers and 27.8 percent minority enlisted personnel. The number of minorities in the cadet corps has hovered around 13 to 14 percent.
Allen called the numbers “too low” and said that blacks and Hispanics are underrepresented at the academy. He has asked every Coast Guard senior leader to develop a relationship with a university that has a high percentage of minorities, and with its faculty, students and leadership. In turn the Coast Guard leaders will share information about the service.
Resources:
- Big Changes for the U. S. Coast Guard!
- DADT is Dying - The Slow End of Military Homophobia
- Admiral Thad Allen - official USCG biography
- U. S. Coast Guard's 218th Birthday - Happy Birthday from San Francisco
- U. S. Coast Guard - Facts, Links, Photos
- U. S. Coast Guard: America's First Line Guardians - a Tribute to CG-6505
- USCGC Bertholf - Great Video
- U. S. Coast Guard - official USCG website
- U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary - official USCG website
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