A watchdog group is suing the Department of Defense (DOD) after it failed to hand over demographics data on who is receiving promotions in the military.

The group, which says it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in March that has gone ignored, is looking for breakdowns by race and gender of military promotions and nominations over the past five years, suspecting that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices might be at play.

They’ve also asked for all communications related to these practices between key DOD officials. 

The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) seeks to analyze whether DEI practices are being implemented transparently and without compromising merit. 

The group said the DOD acknowledged receipt of the FOIA but has not communicated whether it plans to hand over any documents or give a reason for withholding them. 

‘The increased role diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have played in the military is concerning to many Americans. The American people believe that promotions in the military should be based on merit,’ said CASA Director James Fitzpatrick. 

‘Responsive records from this request will show the demographic breakdown of military promotions over the last five years. We know that the DOD has this information readily available and [we] are curious why they are so reluctant to share it with us, which the law requires. This lawsuit will force them to.’

After suing the Air Force to comply with a separate FOIA request, the group obtained slides from Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) recruitment standards last week. One slide, labeled ‘AFROTC White,’ had a graph that showed the percentage of White AFROTC applicants declining from 60% in 2019 to a projected 50% in fiscal 2023. The graph detailed the Air Force’s goal of reducing that percentage down to 43% by fiscal 2029.

The slide deck also included funding requests for diversity recruiting initiatives, including $500,000 for ‘diversity advertising campaigns’ and $250,000 for ‘influencer engagements.’

Recruitment issues in recent years across the military branches have led to the smallest U.S. fighting force since before World War II. The Navy is expected to miss its recruiting goals in 2024, and the Marine Corps, Army and Air Force are expected to meet theirs after the latter two missed theirs in 2022 and 2023.