• When being questioned by congress during his promotion process, he was asked what he believed were the three most salient challenges facing the coast guard. His first response was a desire to increase the diversity of the force:
  • “I think we need to better reflect the population we serve if we are to meet the challenges of the future. A diverse and inclusive workforce will better integrate a multitude of perspectives into our operations; I believe improving in many ways how we perform our varied missions and ultimately serve the American people. By promoting diversity and inclusion we find out all the novel and innovative ideas out there in the world: It is one means to learn more about the world around us. It is the right thing to do. Moreover, by exploring other ideas, beliefs, and lifestyles with an open mind, we open ourselves to exercise creativity and problem solving by looking at things from other lenses. Many Coast Guard missions lend themselves to diverse perspectives, if we only take one perspective, or continue to do things the way we always have, we will never fully understand or accomplish all that we can achieve.”
  • He also stated that forsaking princples of DEI leads to running “the risk of locking ourselves into a sort of closed-minded ideology. As we look to recruit”

Photo Source: U.S. Coast Guard