Navy, Marines May Reinstate Promotion Board Photos After Removal Impacted Diversity
The Navy and Marine Corps could reinstate service photos in promotion and selection boards after the removal of photos adversely impacted diversity goals — the opposite of the Defense Department’s intent when it barred the use of photos in promotion boards last year.
In July 2020, then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper issued several changes aimed at improving diversity and inclusion, including directing all military branches to remove photographs from consideration by promotion boards and selection processes to “ensure equal opportunity for all.”
Diversity of enlisted leaders and officers dropped after the removal of photos, Navy Vice Adm. John Nowell Jr. said Tuesday at the Navy League’s 2021 Sea-Air-Space Exposition.
“I think we should consider reinstating photos in selection boards,” Nowell said during a panel discussion on diversity, adding that promotion board data from the last five years clearly showed “as you look at diversity, it went down with photos removed.”


It seems when they go by pure data vs "what a person looks like", diversity comes up short