Obama’s top generals are mostly white men. Could the system picking them change?

Just the liberal Washington Compost stirring the shit pot again. The job of protecting its citizens should not be a feel good rainbow of diversity, it should just be best man or woman for the job. Mentoring has been going on for decades, sometimes individual performance should be the bar for selection to position and command. The crack about minorities not believing they could not attend West Point is total bs. If anyone has ever spent 5 minutes at USMA can see that it is a true slice of all races and genders. One thing, just because you want to go there doesn't mean you can. You have to earn it.

Sir, as you state, most of the top ranking generals do in fact come from the combat arms branches. So if you want diversity at the highest ranks, we could start by allowing fully qualified female officers to branch in the combat arms. Then they would have the opportunity to demonstrate that they have the intellectual and physical prowess to compete for positions of higher rank and responsibility with their male peers. The system now precludes that by categorically denying any female, regardless of capabilities and potential, the opportunity to compete.

But the select group of white male generals will continue to perpetuate the system that brought them to power until forced to change by a higher authority. Fortunately we have a president who can see the benefits of allowing all citizens to compete as their personal capabilities allow, and is willing to upset the entrenched interests of the powerful. So we are in fact finally taking those first difficult steps towards a true equality of opportunity. If every president had followed the advice of his generals, we would still have separate black and white units, no active duty female marines at all, women limited to a very few Army MOS, and all LGBT people, regardless of abilities, denied service. While there are some that may look at that as the good old days, any reasonable person would conclude that inclusion has benefited both the military and the society it draws people from.

But the status quo dies hard, and is staunchly defended by the vested interests, just as horse calvary was defended in the face of the development of the tank.

Race has no place in the military. I am not stating that racism does not exist (with certain individuals) but ones origin should never come into play when selecting the right person for the job. There is much scrutiny throughout the military selection process. As for the CINC he or she should always be able to select exactly who they wish as their Chairman or Chiefs of Staff in the Military, the CINC makes some mighty decisions and needs to have the comfort that he or she has enlisted the right person to advise.