Racism’s New Face

A series of emails reportedly written by RAF pilot selection board members has graphically instantiated the service’s worrying and worsening proclivity to prioritize inclusivity over excellence.

Written between 2020 and 2021 and leaked to a legacy Commonwealth news outlet, subject emails illustrate a purposeful and concerted push to systematically exclude White male recruits from and fast-track women and minorities into pilot positions.

What’s more, the emails showed selection board-members whose recommendations didn’t include women or minorities were strategically canceled.

A 19 January 2021 email addressed to an RAF Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) read:

"I would be grateful if you could provide me with a breakdown of the candidates awaiting boarding, by Br [branch - the type of profession, such as pilot, engineer or chef] and BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic]/Female.

"I noted that the boards have recently been predominantly white male heavy, if we don't have enough BAME and female to board then we need to make the decision to pause boarding and seek more BAME and female from the RF [recruitment force].

"I don't really need to see loads of useless white male pilots, lets [sic] get a [sic] focussed [sic] as possible, I am more than happy to reduce boarding if needed to have a balanced BAME/female/Male board."

The existence and scope of the RAF’s exclusionary pilot recruitment practices and the patent unlawfulness thereof are further evinced by the fact the service is currently paying more than $123,000 to 31 White male personnel determined to have been disadvantaged by such.

The payments contradict statements by RAF Air Chief Marshal Wigston, who formerly asserted the service’s diversity push would not discriminate against White males.

The RAF further alleges it has not lowered its standards to accommodate increased numbers of diverse applicants.

A spokesperson for the service contended: "Selection standards were not and have not been altered and there was no compromise of entry standards and no impact on the frontline or operational effectiveness.”

The practice of lowering standards to accommodate 21st Century diversity quotas is endemic among Western militaries.

The Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) formerly utilized by the U.S. Army was broadly condemned for the drastically lower standards it set for female recruits. Army commanders averred the test’s conspicuous bias jeopardized the service’s mission readiness by populating its ranks with individuals objectively unable to competently execute the business of soldiering.

A new test—the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) promised to better the service’s warfighting capabilities by assessing men and women equally and basing minimum physical standards on the requirements of the Army’s mission rather than post-modern gender ideology.

However, owing to an initial ACFT failure rate of 54-percent among female recruits, activist groups have criticized the Army’s new gender-neutral standards—arguing they constitute a disadvantage to female service-members.  

Bowing, predictably, to Capitol Hill lawmakers, the Army halted implementation of the ACFT until such a time as the service can prove the test will not negatively impact the recruitment and retention of soldiers in critical support jobs—particularly those with large female populations.

To address this concern, the Army commenced considering reverting to a gender-based fitness scoring scheme for promotion while contemporaneously reducing the minimum physical standards for combat arms.

That the potential reversal in Army policy will adversely impact the service’s mission and the security of the American people is glaringly obvious. In the absence of a rigorous standard to bear combat arms, the requirements to join the United States’ primary land combat force could soon be as low as performing ten push-ups in two-minutes, running two-miles in 21-minutes, deadlifting 140-pounds three times, and performing a single repetition of a leg-tuck or—failing that—two-minutes of a plank exercise.

FMI: https://www.raf.mod.uk