I learned an interesting fact last week while reading the This Day in Naval History page on the Navy’s Web site. I read that in 1944 the Secretary of the Navy was pleased to welcome the first African American women into the Naval Reserve.  The Navy has always been at the forefront of diversity and will continue to be.

Underlying the Navy’s diversity strategy is the basic tenet that diversity is imperative and absolutely essential for future mission accomplishment.

We are a global Navy in a global military in a rapidly globalizing world.  Improving diversity takes time, but incorporating diversity allows us to capitalize on the valuable differences of experience, culture, and talent in our great nation and Navy.

But what is it that we’re trying to do?  The Navy wants to—and will—institutionalize a culture which fully leverages and values our diverse workforce. The United States has such a wide range of talent—talent that transcends race, ethnicity, and gender. 

Navy must compete for that talent, embrace it, and make it part of our force. Then we must develop the men and women (Sailor and civilian) serving in the Navy and allow them to achieve their full potential.

We need leaders from and for every part of our Navy.  The Navy’s Sailors and civilians represent multiple ethnic groups and literally hundreds of cultural heritages.  Our diversity strategy and initiatives, however, must be larger than heritage months and summits. 

We must give careful attention to recruiting, retaining, and promoting people who will be effective in our large organization that’s made up of people from widely varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds.  More importantly, we want them to see themselves reflected in Navy’s senior leadership, in such things as professional experience, education, and warfare community.

What is our mission? Navy has recruited a wide range of talent representative of our nation’s best talents and representing our nation’s fantastic diversity.  Our mission is, first, to retain that force, Sailor and civilian, and fully leverage the diversity the force offers.  Second, we’ll develop leaders and role models who reflect our Navy and establish enduring processes to maintain the diversity that we develop.

Friends, shipmates, take on diversity as one of your personal and professional missions.  Our broad range of talent, background, and experience is too valuable to waste.  In fact, that talent, background, and experience is a national asset. Value our differences and then leverage those differences to enable our mission accomplishment and develop each other. As you do, learn about each other and, as always, take care of each other and be safe.