Tag: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

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Pentagon Leaders Defend the Study of Critical Race Theory

Top Pentagon leaders passionately defended the military’s approach to addressing racism and extremism, pushing back against accusations by Republican lawmakers that the effort is creating division and hurting morale. The testy exchanges showed that the political dimension of a national debate over racism and extremism weighs on the military even as it attempts to address […]

June 24, 2021

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Senator Seeks to Tackle Sexual Assault Cases in Military

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is on the brink of success in her years-long campaign to get sexual assault cases removed from the military chain of command. But getting over the finish line may depend on whether she can overcome wariness about broader changes she’s seeking to the military justice system. There is now widespread support for […]

June 18, 2021

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Pentagon Celebrates LGBTQ+ Pride Month

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other top department officials took part in the Pentagon’s 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Month celebration last week. In his comments, Austin commemorated the progress the military had come in standing up for LGBTQ+ rights but recognized that there was still more work to be done in achieving equity. “Our […]

June 11, 2021

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Report: Sexual Assaults in U.S. Military is Rising

Reports of sexual assaults among the U.S. military increased by a very small amount in 2020, a year when troops were largely locked down for months as bases around the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Pentagon. The annual report released last Thursday showed that sexual assault reports involving service members went […]

May 21, 2021

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U.S. Special Operations Command Reassigns New Diversity and Inclusion Chief

U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has reassigned its new chief of diversity and inclusion, Richard Torres-Estrada, amid an investigation into social media posts criticizing police and former President Donald Trump, Military.com reported. SOCOM welcomed Torres-Estrada in a March 25 tweet. However, in a matter of days, critics denounced the new chief for some of his […]

April 1, 2021