Assistant secretary of the Navy takes part in ASNE Leadership in Diversity session

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 06/21/2011 18:01:00
• In: Leadership in diversity sessions

Wright is manager, Digital Production, NBC News, New York.

A conversation with Juan M. Garcia lll, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)

Secretary Garcia

The United States Navy appears to be riding high on a wave of excellence in diversity. Competing in a business environment where the most talented and technically nimble prospects are wooed to high public sector jobs, the Navy is using diversity and inclusion as a strategy for success, according to assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs.

Garcia laid out a scenario for more than 60 news editors at a Leadership in Diversity session last week that explains the rationale for an aggressive staff development and retention strategy. On the day of the Japanese tsunami and nuclear power plant crisis, a U.S. battle group was providing relief to the Japanese people. On that same day, he said, a U.S. battle group was actively engaged in Libya, while two U.S. submarines were under the polar ice caps tracking global warming, and the Navy was combating piracy off the African coast, fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and doing medical relief in South America. Garcia noted that with such responsibility, the Navy cannot afford to overlook any talent.

A Harvard Law School graduate and former Texas state representative, Garcia is a veteran of the Navy himself. He served as a Navy aviator, having gone through the Navy Officer Candidates School. He joked that his first naval commission was skippering the submarine ride at Disneyland while working his way through UCLA.

The statistical information Garcia relayed about the service of Hispanics in the Navy was particularly poignant given the growing Hispanic population in the U.S. According to Garcia, the Center for Naval Analysis says that one-sixth of any Marine class fails to complete basic training. But when it comes to the Hispanic candidate, that recruit is statistically within the margin of error of no attrition loss at all. Garcia's theory on that is those who have navigated the pitfalls of life and battled for a seat at “the American Table” would not find the Marine Corps drill sergeant the scariest thing they have ever seen. Garcia believes that service in the U.S. military helped build the Hispanic middle class.

But success of the Hispanic community in the Navy is just one great story. Last year, for the first time, all four people who were identified as “Sailors of the Year” were women; two were black and one was Asian. And for the first time, women were deployed aboard U.S. submarines, Garcia said. It was not through some chauvinistic altruism, but the result of national security. The Navy looked ahead and felt that the growth of the private sector nuclear industry would deplete the number of qualified nuclear technicians serving aboard ship. So, to increase the pool of qualified technicians, a wide recruiting effort was launched with determined follow through, Garcia said.

But Garcia warns that there is still a long way to go. African Americans, ages 21-49 represent 13.5 percent of the country, but only 8 percent of the Navy's officers. The problem there, he says, is the recruitment pool among African American candidates is relatively small.

On the plus side, it literally takes an act of Congress to get into Annapolis. But this year, the academy has a historically diverse class, according to Garcia. The Navy wants a service that reflects the nation and progress in these areas is proof of that determination, Garcia said.

Overall, the U.S. Navy is recognized as a diversity leader, beating out Fortune 500 companies. The Navy's Strategic Diversity Workgroup has 400 officers who are literally everywhere diversity is discussed and taught. Senior personnel go throughout the country identifying and mentoring new recruits.

Garcia was reluctant to give advice to other businesses on how to achieve diversity goals. But he took the opportunity to remind editors not to forget those military personnel who have sacrificed life and limb for their county. There is a strong, positive story in advances in battlefield medicine. There are people surviving wounds that would have been lethal in the past. “Don't let that become the ‘agent orange' of this generation,” he pleaded.

Coverage of the ASNE Leadership in Diversity sessions, held June14-15, 2011, in Orlando, Fla.

In the question and answer portion, Garcia was asked how members of the Muslim faith were treated and received in light of the global war on terrorism. He said the Navy welcomes and embraces Muslim members in the Chaplin corps, and even cited that there was a Wiccan service. The killing of 12 people by U.S. Army Major Malik Nadal Hasan at Fort Hood created a call for better screening to identify people who were potentially unstable, but that was not limited to just people who were Muslim, Garcia said.

Garcia said that the Navy holds commanders responsible for diversity goals. If they do not meet the goals, they will not go forward.

Garcia admits that there are still some persistent diversity issues when it comes to cultural customs such as religions that require beards or headgear, but the military on the whole is struggling to seek the right balance between uniformity or combat versus religious and civil rights. It is still an issue he says, but they are getting closer.

Overall, Garcia's advice to editors based on what the Navy does is:

• Cast a wide net -- you will find you will attract a larger pool for diversity.
• Be willing to go a lot of places -- You can't meet your diversity goals in one place.
• Don't lower standards -- Excellence attracts excellence.
• Hold managers accountable for diversity success.
• You cannot afford to overlook any talent.

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