• Pepper claimed “It could have been me on the ground begging for my life,” after the George Floyd incident. Pepper said what happened to Floyd could have happened to him, “with no regard for the fact that I am a Wing Commander or served over 31 years in the Air Force.”
• Pepper was a “champion” on the “Black/African American Employment Strategy Team” for the Air Force Barrier Analysis Working Group.
• In a complaint to the Office of the Inspector General, the behavior of Pepper is noted:
  • “The ideologically-driven narrative he espouses, which is rooted in critical race theory (CRT), is engendering division and resentment within the ranks, undermining good order and discipline, and eroding the confidence military professionals place in their oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
  • Pepper “asked leaders to read an article written by Daisy Auger-Dominguez (the Chief People Officer at VICE Media Group, and Vice-Chair of the board of directors of Planned Parenthood Federation) titled, “Getting Over Your Fear of Talking About Diversity,” which he attached to his email. The article suggests leaders read certain books to educate themselves about “issues of women, people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, religious minorities, and other marginalized groups.”
  • “The article further instructs leaders to ‘apologize and admit your mistakes,’ and to take up the work ‘as an ally in a position of power’ to launch ‘team conversations about white fragility, holding all-hands meetings calling out racially charged incidents when they happen, or introducing yourself with your pronouns.’ ”
  • In July 2020, Col Pepper suggested that the base Community Support Coordinator compile a list of Diversity & Inclusion initiatives (i.e. book clubs, small group discussions, etc.) that had been implemented by the various units on base so that such initiatives might be “shared with everyone”
  • The IG complaint states that divisive trainings continued despite the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Memorandums and a Presidential Executive Order (EO) (dated 2 September 2020), prohibiting the trainings.
  • According to the IG complaint, some of the trainings were racist and hostile, and undermined the “obligation to ensure the fair and equal treatment of all individuals before the law.” It details occurrences both preceding and succeeding the aforementioned EO and memorandums.
• Pepper issued a memo permitting some service members (based on race) to grow beards:
  • • “The following Servicemembers have been selected to participate in the US Space Forces Inclusive Male Grooming standards Pilot Program (IMG), as part of the Black/African American Employment Strategy Team (BEST) and the Barrier Analysis Working Group (BAWG) effort responsible to test and research the impacts of male facial hair across the DoD and report its findings to the SECDEF.”

Photo Source: U.S. Space Force