"You might get left behind if you don't have someone that looks like you helping to propel you," he said. "Black service members need to work twice as hard and you can't mess up."
Discrimination beliefs cut across the ranks. As many as half of the black survey respondents said they had been discriminated against because of their race. And 45 per cent of black general officers — they include one-star to four-star generals — said they had experienced discrimination. In contrast, 94 per cent of the white general officers said they didn't face discrimination based on their race.
Senior Air Force and Space Force leaders asked for updates within 60 days on how to address a number of the issues, including the disparity in discipline and the fact that 60 per cent of the black service members surveyed said they don't get the same benefit of the doubt as their white peers if they get into trouble.
General Charles Brown junior, chief of staff of the Air Force, said service leaders must rebuild trust with their force.
"Racial disparity isn't an easy topic and something we don't traditionally talk about much throughout our levels of command," said Brown, the first black man to lead the Air Force. "Now we must all move forward with meaningful, lasting, and sustainable change."
Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett added that leaders will take appropriate actions to remove barriers and expand mentorship and other programs to encourage diversity.
The IG review examined the military justice process data going back to 2012, looked at promotion rates and other opportunities given to service members, conducted interviews, and received more than 123,000 responses to a survey. Officials said it focused solely on black service members to get the review done quickly, but subsequent changes would be applied more broadly to other minority groups.
Specifically, the review found that enlisted black service members were 57 per cent more likely than whites to face courts martial and 72 per cent more likely to get non-judicial punishment as a result of an investigation. Black troops were twice as likely to be apprehended by security and young black enlisted members were twice as likely to be involuntarily discharged for misconduct. Black troops also are investigated and found guilty of sexual harassment more often.
The report noted, however, that recruits who join the force with a moral waiver — whether they are black or white — are more likely to face discipline problems. Recruits with previous criminal convictions such as assault, drunk driving or marijuana use require a moral waiver to enlist.