{"id":61467,"date":"2020-09-24T16:46:41","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T16:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/24\/services-to-consider-removing-all-identifying-information-from-promotion-board-packets\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:55:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:55:46","slug":"services-to-consider-removing-all-identifying-information-from-promotion-board-packets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/09\/24\/services-to-consider-removing-all-identifying-information-from-promotion-board-packets\/","title":{"rendered":"Services to consider removing all identifying information from promotion board packets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Soon, there will be no photos on packets<\/a> sent to promotion boards, but that may just be the first step. The feeling now, according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is that all identifying information<\/a> should be stripped from documents when boards consider troops for promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such \u201csterilization\u201d of promotion packets removes unconscious and conscious bias<\/a>, Army Gen. Mark Milley said Thursday during a live-streamed senior leader town hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the service secretaries think this is the way to go,\u201d he said. \u201cThey made recommendations to the secretary of defense. And those actions are being implemented as well speak. And I fully support them. I think it\u2019s the way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this summer, in the wake of nationwide protests against police brutality against Black people, which bred a larger discussion about the state of racism in the U.S., the Defense Department launched its own internal look at diversity and inclusion in the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the first suggestions, and the first implemented, was to remove promotion packet photos. Critics argued that bias, whether unconscious or conscious, could steer board members toward or away from a promotion candidate based on their race or ethnicity, perceived or otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a taking a very holistic look at the way that boards can look at packages, by virtue of merit, into promotion,\u201d Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramon Colon-Lopez said during a July town hall. \u201cI know that the secretary and the chairman can agree that we can do better on those boards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once photos were out, the discussion of removing names and gender also came into play, to head off any bias against not only men or women, but in the racial or ethnic implications of a service member\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, three business professors at the University of Pennsylvania published a paper<\/a> proposing a tool to help employers head of bias in reading resumes during the hiring process. Past studies have shown that, in general, people can tend to favor candidates based on their names.<\/p>\n\n\n\t