How the U.S. Military's Equal Opportunity Training Program Impacts Operational Readiness and Effectiveness: An Exploratory Study

The Department of Defense is dedicated to creating an environment that recognizes individuals' diverse backgrounds. The Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) was developed to train Equal Opportunity Advisors (EOAs), implement training programs at the unit level, and evaluate the Equal Opportunity Climate of the military. Many of the programs developed at DEOMI were developed with the belief that diversity appreciation and prejudice avoidance (DAPA) lead to combat readiness and operational effectiveness (CROE). A qualitative, grounded theory approach was employed to help understand how DAP A is related to CROE. Interviews were conducted with retired EOAs in which they related critical incidents involving discrimination or prejudice. The results from the qualitative analysis indicate that incidents of discrimination and prejudice elicit emotional responses from all individuals involved. The negative emotions as a result of the incident lead to negative attitudes toward the unit and the military in general which then, in turn, impact the individual's performance. Factors such as leadership and trust in the organization appear to moderate the effect of attitudes on performance. A model is developed to show the relationship between the constructs discovered during the analysis and methods for future studies are discussed.