Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

Department of Defense

Equity Action Plan

April 2022

Table of Contents

List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................... ii

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 1

Summary of Accomplishments ........................................................................................ 2

Action One: Procurement and Contracting ..................................................................... 4

Action Two: Military Installations and Bases .................................................................. 8

Action Three: Military Family Equity Advancement ...................................................... 11

Action Four: Equitable Artificial Intelligence Research and Development .................... 16

Action Five: Underserved Community Investment........................................................ 20

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

List of Acronyms

Abbreviation

Description

Artificial Intelligence

Customer Agreement

COE

Center of Excellence

DEI

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

DEPSCoR

Defense Establish Program to Stimulate Competitive Research

DIU

Defense Innovation Unit

DoD

Department of Defense

DoDEA

Department of Defense Education Activity

DPC

Defense Pricing and Contracting

Executive Order

Fiscal Year

HBCU

Historically Black College and University

HUBZone

Historically Underutilized Business Zone

IPC

Interagency Policy Committee

JAIC

Joint Artificial Intelligence Center

MCCYN

Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood

Machine Learning

MPP

Mentor Protégé Program

MSEP

Military Spouse Employment Partnership

MSI

Minority Serving Institution

NAEP

National Assessment of Education Progress

NALEMP

Native American Lands Environmental Mitigation Program

NPS

National Park Service

OMB

Office of Management and Budget

OSBP

Office of Small Business Programs

PFAS

Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

POAM

Plan of Action and Milestones

PTAC

Procurement Technical Assistance Center

RAB

Restoration Advisory Boards

RAI

Responsible Artificial Intelligence

RIF

Rapid Innovation Fund

SBIR

Small Business Innovation Research

SDB

Small Disadvantaged Business

SDVOSB

Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business

SECO

Spouse Education and Career Opportunities Program

SMART

Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation

Scholarship-for-Service Program

STEM

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

STTR

Small Business Technology Transfer

S&T

Science and Technology

TTPTTP

Taking the Pentagon to the People

WOSB

Woman-Owned Small Business

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

Executive Summary

In January 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD) took steps to immediately

implement President Biden’s Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and

Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, by conducting

an equity assessment to identify potential barriers that underserved communities and

individuals face regarding Federal programs. The enclosed responds to EO 13985,

which requires Federal agencies to produce an equity action plan.

While the Department has historically focused on increasing equity within the DoD

community, the collective actions described in this plan represent a shift in the

Department’s approach and focus to better ensure that we leverage our capabilities to

create opportunities for all Americans. Within 90 days of the issuance of the plan, the

Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer will send the Deputy Secretary of Defense an

implementation plan with clear milestones and completion times for each of the five

actions described below.

These actions demonstrate a Department-wide commitment to this approach and

establish a holistic strategy for continuing to cultivate enduring and equitable change.

• Procurement and Contracting: Close gaps in small business participation,

participation by other underserved communities, and improve workforce equity

through an ambitious equitable procurement and contracting agenda that

includes advancing equity throughout the supply chain, such as advancing

opportunities for prime and subcontractors who are members of underserved

communities.

• Military Installations: Advance equity for communities around military

installations and bases, including through the Native American Lands

Environmental Mitigation Program, the Defense Environmental Restoration

Program, and prioritizing clean-up of Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).

• Military Families: Advance equity for military families who are members of

underserved communities, including through increased investments and

expanded programming in DoD Educational Activity (DoDEA) schools, improving

economic security and opportunities for military spouses, advancing health

equity, and combating economic challenges experienced by military families

related to housing and food insecurity.

• Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Development: Become a

leader on equitable AI research and development through programs such as

Artificial Social Intelligence for Successful Teams, Grounded AI Language

Acquisition Research, and Guaranteeing AI Robustness Against Deception.

• Underserved Community Investment: Invest in under-served communities

and expand access to DoD programs and opportunities by increasing

investments in Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and investments in K-12 and

K-20 programs.

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

Summary of Accomplishments

In January 2021, President Biden issued EO 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and

Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, which aims to

maximize Federal agencies’ approaches to enhancing equity and embedding equity in

decision-making processes. To immediately comply with EO 13985, Secretary Austin

signed a memorandum on January 29, 2021, rescinding all previous Department-level

memoranda implementing EO 13950, Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping. In his

memorandum, the Secretary pledged his “full support and commitment to a cohesive

and ready force that nurtures equal opportunity for all.”

Throughout the Department, numerous equity-related efforts have been accomplished

which relate to the five actions in this plan. In February 2021, Secretary Austin directed

commanding officers and supervisors at all levels to conduct a one-day “stand down” for

discussion of the principle that all those who support DoD’s mission deserve an

environment free of discrimination, hate, and harassment. This included a focus on how

extremist activities violate the fundamental principles of the Department. Shortly

thereafter, DoD took steps to ensure transgender individuals who wished to serve in the

military and could meet the appropriate standards were able to do so openly and free

from discrimination. The Department accomplished this by revising multiple policies to

bring them into compliance with EO 13985 and EO 14004, Enabling All Qualified

Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform.

In October 2021, Secretary Austin issued a memorandum emphasizing the important

role of small businesses in the defense industrial base. The memorandum tasked the

DoD Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) with refreshing the DoD Small

Business Strategy to maximize small business capabilities through a Department-wide

approach. This strategy will better align the Department’s efforts with the President’s

focus on increasing the share of dollars going to small businesses by lowering barriers

to entry and increasing competition opportunities for small businesses and traditionally

underserved entrepreneurs. OSBP is currently creating an implementation plan to

accompany this new strategy to ensure clear adherence and measures of success for

increasing the small business footprint in the contracting marketplace.

DoDEA has been a trailblazer in leading diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts for

DoD-operated primary and secondary schools. For example, DoDEA released a four-

year strategic initiative in the areas of recruitment and retention, promotion and

development, and teaching and learning; established its Headquarters DEI Team to

identify opportunities for improvement, book studies, and sharing best practices;

provided professional DEI learning and consultation for leaders; and launched DEI

working groups in its eight school districts, three regions, and headquarters.

DoDEA was not the only DoD organization to take steps to foster equity in the education

arena. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, to build infrastructure and enhance education

programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and MSI, the

HBCU/MSI Program awarded 70 equipment grants totaling $30.4 million to 32 HBCUs,

37 MSIs, and 1 Tribal College or University. In FY 2021, the Department launched two

new Centers of Excellence (COE) in Biotechnology and Materials Science at HBCUs,

totaling $15 million investments.

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

In May 2021, Deputy Secretary of Defense Hicks issued a memorandum reaffirming the

Department’s Ethical Principles for AI as being responsible, equitable, traceable,

reliable, and governable. The memo further tasks the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center

(JAIC) to be DoD’s coordinator for development and implementation of the Responsible

Artificial Intelligence (RAI) strategy. Similarly, DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)

publicly released voluntary implementation guidance for responsible AI, which provides

a practical approach for incorporating DoD’s AI Ethics Principles in AI product planning,

development, testing, and evaluation.

The Department also took action to address adverse equity-related effects that occur

within its military family population due to changing regional and national-level economic

factors. The Secretary announced a series of economic and food security initiatives in

November 2021, which included temporary increases in Basic Allowance for Housing,

and increases in authorizations for Temporary Lodging Expenses. DoD also released a

Military Leader’s Economic Security Toolkit with specific resources for leaders on how

to identify Service members who are struggling to feed themselves and their families,

how to engage in difficult conversations to assess food insecurity, and connect Service

members to additional resources and support programs. Furthermore, DoD introduced

two pilot offerings, FlexJobs and Udemy, to bolster military spouse employment

opportunities.

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

Action One: Procurement and Contracting

The Department implements programs that are designed to increase participation of

small businesses, including small businesses from socio-economic categories and other

underserved communities in DoD procurements for delivery of products, services, and

technologies that benefit the warfighter. Additionally, the Department emphasizes

contracting with entities employing individuals with disabilities under the AbilityOne

Program and statutory pilot authorities. The Department also uses its acquisitions to

drive equitable employment conditions for industry workforce on military projects.

Through its equity efforts, the Department seeks to close participation opportunity gaps

for underserved communities through an ambitious, equitable procurement and

contracting agenda that includes advancing equity throughout the supply chain. This

agenda is anticipated to result in a more competitive and robust defense industrial base

delivering combat and support capabilities, with the collateral effect of increasing equity.

Barrier to Equitable Outcomes

While assessing participation by small businesses (including categories of small

businesses) as well as by AbilityOne entities, the Department identified the following

barriers:

• DoD-specific procurement and contracting processes and compliance

requirements.

• Lack of simplified and clear entry points for small businesses into the defense

marketplace.

• Unclear communication of opportunities for small businesses and lack of access

to information on requirements for bid.

• Financial instability and other inequitable working conditions for the contractor

workforce.

These barriers inhibit the interest and ability of some businesses, particularly small

businesses, to pursue DoD procurement opportunities.

Action Plan to Reduce Barriers

To address these barriers, the Department identified three actions:

Set, resource, and implement a galvanizing goal around advancing opportunities

for prime and subcontractors who are members of underserved communities.

To drive the increase of small business participation opportunities in DoD acquisitions,

including participation by small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs), women-owned small

businesses (WOSBs), service-disabled Veteran owned small businesses (SDVOSBs)

and businesses located in historically underutilized business (HUB) zones, the

Department will capitalize on ongoing strategic planning efforts such as the DoD Small

Business Strategy and its implementation plan.

The Department also increased its SDB goal in support of the President’s equity

agenda, and will fully implement the other management actions called for by Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) M-22-03, Advancing Equity in Federal Procurement

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

(December 2, 2021). For example, DoD will utilize disaggregated data on the federal

contract spend, including by race and ethnicity, to help understand where disparities

exist. Further, DoD will issue guidance to its acquisition workforce emphasizing

adjustments to the category management planning and scoring process starting in FY

2022 in alignment with the Administration’s recently announced reforms in OMB M-22-

03.

The Department will also encourage and resource additional reviews of contracting

opportunities, including opportunities below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, by

Small Business Professionals for Section 8(a) SDB set-asides and greater participation

by Section 8(a) SDBs. DoD will resource and deploy market intelligence tools to the

acquisition workforce, including small business professionals, to improve market

research and facilitate identification of capable suppliers for defense contracts from

underserved communities. This will support increasing set-aside competitions for small

businesses, including socioeconomic categories, thus opening up entry points for these

businesses to participate in the defense marketplace.

To improve clarity of small businesses opportunities DoD will continue to develop and

update the DoD OSBP website (https://business.defense.gov) and the websites of

Component OSBPs into one-stop shops for small businesses to access information on

small business programs, resources available to small businesses, and toolkits on how

to do business with DoD. This will include integration of the work of Procurement

Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs), which provide counseling support to small

businesses that are looking to compete for DoD contracts or perform on current

contracts, with DoD’s acquisition workforce for unity of effort. These PTACs help

overcome the barriers to small businesses that struggle to meet DoD-specific

contracting procurement practices and requirements. The Department intends to create

processes that would enable DoD Small Business Professionals to leverage PTACs in

conducting targeted market research and assistance efforts to support specific

acquisitions. The Department will also create a unified management structure of small

business programs to ensure long-term planning that better enables small businesses,

to participate in DoD’s programs and have a streamlined entry point into the defense

marketplace.

DoD also has several small business and small business-focused programs that

support and invest in research, development, and manufacturing capabilities and

innovation in key technology sectors having the greatest impact on the American middle

class worker. These programs include, for example, the Small Business Innovation

Research (SBIR) Program, the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program,

the Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP), the Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF) Program, the

Technology Transfer Program, the National Security Innovation Network, the DIU, the

National Security Innovation Capital Program, the Manufacturing Technology Program,

the Title III of the Defense Production Act Program, the Industrial Base Analysis and

Sustainment Program, and the Manufacturing Innovation Institutes. DoD will work

across these programs and others such as MPP and SBIR/STTR to ensure that awards

and investments are made to small business firms across the underserved

communities, including by establishing small business participation or assistance

baselines. The Department will also work to stabilize small business programs through

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

permanent reauthorization (e.g., MPP, SBIR/STTR) and dedicated funding (e.g., MPP,

RIF). Finally, in order to effectively implement small business equity efforts, the

Department will resource the Offices of Small Business Programs through the

President’s budget.

In addition to ensuring maximum practicable participation for small businesses in

Departmental acquisitions, the Department also seeks to increase participation by

AbilityOne entities. The DoD AbilityOne program has pledged to grow the federal-wide

AbilityOne program over the next five years from 0.55% to 1.0% of DoD contract

spending. This increase will match DoD’s mission needs with AbilityOne capabilities to

grow employment and career opportunities for Americans with disabilities, including

service-disabled veterans who are not small business owners.

Advance equity through requirements on wage setting and labor practices in the

DoD contractor workforce and supply chain.

DoD is working closely with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and other

Federal stakeholders to implement EO 14026, which mandates a $15.00 minimum

wage for service contract workers on Federal contracts. DoD is actively participating in

policy development to enforce union negotiating rights, use Project Labor Agreements

where appropriate on construction contracts, and strengthen apprenticeship programs

in critical trades.

DoD also makes targeted workforce investments to ensure our national security needs

are met. The Department invests in apprenticeships, community college programs,

manufacturing training, trade support, and a variety of other education and training

programs that could both close existing gender, racial, and opportunity gaps and

strengthen economic security. As the Department invests in the defense innovation and

industrial base ecosystems, it will seek to ensure that its investments address existing

equity gaps in the defense industrial base.

Empower small business programs and initiatives to lead policy and management

practices across the Department.

DoD will ensure that leadership of small business programs within the Department is

empowered, resourced, and has access to DoD senior leadership to lead policy

management practices across the Department. DoD will also continue to implement its

mandatory performance element for Senior Executives and General/Flag Officers,

where applicable, who oversee acquisitions to support small business goal attainment,

outreach, and acquisition planning. DoD will ensure small business professionals are

empowered consistent with the Small Business Act and existing DoD policy.

Tracking Progress

To determine progress on these actions, the DoD OSBP, in coordination with

Component OSBPs, and the Defense Pricing and Contracting (DPC) Office will develop

an enterprise-wide plan of action and milestones (POAM) for acquisition that may be

released in phases associated with their respective focus areas. The annual DoD small

business goals and the biennial implementation plans for the updated DoD Small

Business Strategy shall serve as the POAM on small business equity matters. For the

AbilityOne Program and contractor workforce equity, the POAMs will be further

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

established through DPC guidance. The DoD OSBP and DPC will then track the

progress of each action and milestone to ensure timely progression. After completing

all exploratory actions, the DoD OSBP and DPC will re-assess next steps and update or

continue to develop the enterprise-wide acquisition POAMs. Successful completion of

each goal and action item will be evaluated by DoD OSBP and DPC via routine equity

assessments.

Accountability

To remain accountable to identified overarching goals, the Department will routinely

assess DoD acquisition opportunities for small business, AbilityOne, and contractor

workforce equity factors. The Department will also conduct a review of the

empowerment of DoD and Component OSBPs and of small business professionals

across the Military Departments and Defense Agencies. As part of the POAMs, the

DoD OSBP and DPC will assume responsibility as primary offices of responsibility for

routine acquisition equity assessments within their cognizance. The Department will

also continue to reduce barriers to entry, streamline how it communicates information

and opportunities to small businesses and simplify entry points into the defense

marketplace for small businesses.

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

Action Two: Military Installations and Bases

DoD seeks to advance equity and rectify past harms for communities around military

installations and bases.

Barrier to Equitable Outcomes

• DoD operational and training activities during the World War II and Cold War

eras resulted in adverse environmental, health, and economic impacts to some

communities, including Native American communities. Historically, DoD built

some temporary bases and practice bombing ranges on and near Native

American lands, Alaska Native Claims Settlement-conveyed properties, ancestral

lands, and reserved treaty rights areas. Legacy impacts from operations at these

bases and ranges may include hazardous materials, debris, underground fuel

storage tanks, lead-based paint, asbestos, munitions/explosives residue, and

abandoned or unsafe sites. These impacts can sometimes create a barrier to

Indigenous populations remaining on those lands by potentially hindering their

development or protection of the land including their development of the land for

housing or commercial purposes (e.g., harvesting timber), or protecting the land

for subsistence food gathering or cultural practices held in the area. Current

training and operational activities, while still significant, are conducted in a

manner as to reduce adverse impacts.

More recently, DoD’s efforts to expand its footprint on Guam may result in additional

stress on the infrastructure of the island and the local population, much of which falls

into an underserved community based on race or poverty level. Finally, the construction

of a new installation in Guam coupled with the surge in military construction projects at

legacy installations has increased the quantity of unearthed artifacts. The only certified

repository on Guam is very small and is operated by the National Park Service (NPS) to

curate the NPS’s War in the Pacific collection.

Action and Intended Impact on Barrier

To address the barriers identified above, the Department identified two actions:

Evaluate which communities may be experiencing negative environmental,

health, or economic effects, due to proximity to DoD testing sites, bases, or

munitions sites, and invest in mitigating those effects and advancing equitable

outcomes for those communities.

The Department has implemented and will continue to build upon a variety of programs

intended to address the impacts of past DoD operational activities and siting of bases

and ranges. For example, since 1996, DoD has administered the Native American

Lands Environmental Mitigation Program (NALEMP) and invests at least $12 million per

year into NALEMP-funded programs. Funding provided through NALEMP Cooperative

Agreements (CAs) enables tribal governments to lead NALEMP projects, incorporate

“traditional ecological knowledge” into design for cleanup, and build tribal capacity

regarding environmental services and technical remediation skills. In FY 2021, DoD

executed a total of 15 NALEMP CAs, 10 of which were with Alaska Native tribes and 5

of which were with Native American tribes in the lower 48 states. By the end of FY

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

2022, DoD will execute an additional 13 NALEMP CAs: 10 with Alaska Native tribes

and 3 with Native American tribes in the lower 48 states.

The Department also has programs that conduct environmental restoration activities

(Defense Environmental Restoration Program), clean up contamination from a

hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant (Installation Restoration Program),

and address munitions responses sites (Military Munitions Response Program). By the

end of FY 2020, DoD, in cooperation with state agencies and the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, completed cleanup activities at 85% of its cleanup sites – out of a

total of 40,037 sites – and is now monitoring the results to ensure these completed

cleanups remain protective.

Another of DoD’s cleanup priorities is for PFAS releases. DoD is performing an

assessment at 700 installations where DoD may have used or potentially released

PFAS. As part of the cleanup process, DoD is addressing both drinking water (a short-

term action) and groundwater (a long-term action). For this effort, DoD works in

collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency, other Federal agencies, and

communities throughout this process.

• In FY 2022, DoD anticipates investing over $1.4 billion in programs that address

legacy impacts from past DoD actions.

Seek opportunities for significant new investments in underserved communities

around military bases and installations.

The Department is taking steps to invest in the community and upgrade the local

infrastructure in Guam. Specifically, DoD has provided approximately $218 million in

appropriated funding for outside-the-fence investments, including a cultural repository

($12 million), public health lab ($32 million), upgrades to the Northern Water Waste

Treatment Plant ($139.3 million), Interceptor Sewer Refurbishment ($30.6 million),

Northern Guam Lens Aquifer Monitoring System ($3.7 million), and surface

transportation network improvements ($246 million).

The Department also invests significantly in managing and restoring habitats and

wildlife populations both on our installations and with partners in the surrounding

communities. One example is the conservation and recovery of threatened and

endangered species, as well as common wildlife such as migratory birds and game

species. In addition, numerous installations provide public access to nature and

opportunities for hunting, fishing, camping, and other outdoor recreation activities. DoD

also partners with conservation organizations to maintain compatible land uses

surrounding DoD installations. These partnerships have established public recreation

opportunities such as Wildlife Management Areas, public parks, river trail access and

other resources available to underserved communities. DoD conservation investments

exceed $400 million per year.

Tracking Progress

Due to the nature of the effort, the Department anticipates long-term operation of many

of the environmental restoration or cleanup programs, as they are integral to the

Department’s stewardship of the natural resources entrusted to its care. However,

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

progress on PFAS clean-up specifically is included in quarterly public meetings and

regular updates to the PFAS website: https://denix.osd.mil/dod-pfas/.

For the ongoing work in Guam, DoD established specific inter-governmental working

groups for each authorized project, consisting of relevant subject matter experts from

other Federal Agencies and the Government of Guam. These working groups meet on

a recurring basis to monitor project progress and to provide technical assistance as

required. Furthermore, DoD actively monitors and manages the grants in Guam that

implement these activities to ensure compliance with the grant award terms and

conditions.

Accountability

The Department recognizes that it needs to listen to and engage with the impacted

communities and strives to openly share information and collect input throughout the

cleanup process. One DoD-unique community engagement tool is the use of

Restoration Advisory Boards (RAB), which provides communities or individuals

affected by DoD cleanup activities with a forum for focused dialogue on the

installation’s cleanup program. RABs are community-oriented forums that encourage

and facilitate communication between citizens and installation decision-makers

regarding DoD cleanups. RAB participants may include representatives from the

community, installation, State, local or tribal governments, local activities, and federal,

State, or local regulatory agencies. Participants review cleanup progress and provide

comments and advice to the installation’s decision-makers. Because the Department

values this tool and its benefits so highly, we provide administrative and financial

support for RABs to ensure they are sufficiently resourced to create effective

partnerships.

Finally, the Department provides a variety of annual reports to Congress that

summarize the Department’s restorative, conservation, and clean-up activities.

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

Action Three: Military Family Equity Advancement

The Department seeks to advance equity for military families who are members of

underserved communities. This includes advancing equity in healthcare; driving

towards more equitable outcomes for students of color, students with disabilities, and

students from other underserved communities in DoD schools; improving economic

security and opportunity for military spouses; and combating food insecurity and other

economic challenges experienced by military families.

Barrier to Equitable Outcomes

The individuals who choose to serve in our nation’s Armed Forces make sacrifices of

their time, talents, careers, and, in some instances, their lives, in order to maintain and

strengthen the United States military. These sacrifices extend to the spouses and

children of Service members who are often uprooted from employment, family, friends,

and schools, relocated to new geographic locations every few years, and expected to

adapt and maintain resiliency within their families. As of 2020, there were 1.5 million

active duty family members. DoD has a responsibility to ensure that these family

members, including those who are members of an underserved community, are not

inequitably impacted as they support the DoD mission.

Service members and their families are stationed throughout the world, which can result

in a lack of access to educational options. Most public schools on military installations

in the continental U.S. are operated by the local community’s public school district.

Public school districts, particularly those in rural or remote locations, may have limited

financial resources or capacity to address facility deficiencies or provide special

education programs for students with disabilities.

Another barrier experienced by military families is the loss of a steady second income

due to the inability of military spouses to maintain consistent employment

commensurate with their qualifications. Military spouses face challenges in securing

and maintaining meaningful employment due to the demands of the mobile military

lifestyle, such as frequent moves and single parenting during deployments of the

military member. Additionally, DoD surveys reveal that military spouse moves and lack

of access to childcare are contributing factors that reduce the likelihood of military

spouse employment. Of the approximately 598,000 active duty military spouses who

want to work, the unemployment rate has consistently hovered around 22% (pre-

coronavirus pandemic). Spouse unemployment may decrease economic or food

security in the family.

Another barrier which may be experienced by military families who frequently change

geographic locations and are members of underserved communities is equitable access

to health care.

Action and Intended Impact on Barrier

To address the barriers identified above, the Department identified four actions:

Drive towards more equitable outcomes for students of color, students with

disabilities, and other underserved students in DoD schools.

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

To address inequities in schools operated by local public school districts, DoD may

make grants, enter cooperative agreements, or expend other Federal resources to

construct, renovate, repair, or expand elementary and secondary public schools on

military installations in order to address capacity or facility condition deficiencies.

Funding is provided based on the rank of the school’s listing on the Public Schools on

Military Installations Priority List.

The Department is also working to ensure equitable access to challenging courses for

students who attend educational programs administered by DoD. DoDEA is a leader in

achievement for underrepresented students, with African-American/Black and

Hispanic/Latinx DoDEA students receiving among the highest assessment scores in the

nation, outperforming their peers in 96% of states in 4

grade and 8

grade math, and

98% of states in reading on the most recent National Assessment of Education

Progress (NAEP). Similar performance trends exist on the NAEP among students with

disabilities, with DoDEA students with disabilities outperforming their peers in all other

states in 8

grade reading. DoDEA also focuses on equitable access to AP courses,

and is increasing in both participation and performance, particularly across racial

minorities. For example, DoDEA offers open access to AP courses and utilizes the

College Board’s “AP potential tool” to identify students who have the achievement

record to succeed in AP courses but may not have enrolled in these courses.

Furthermore, DoDEA is implementing innovative special education programs to provide

more inclusive educational experiences. These programs include Robot-Assisted

Instruction to enhance instruction for students with autism, Alternate Content Standards

so that students with cognitive disabilities can access the College and Career Ready

Standards, and customized professional development for special education teachers.

Finally, DoDEA organized a division that focuses solely on advancing diversity, equity,

and inclusion. This division will examine, identify, and eliminate inequities, barriers, and

gaps in DEI in all aspects, including recruitment, teaching and learning, and creating a

staff and student climate that is growth-producing. Additionally, they are embedding

culturally responsive teaching strategies in the professional learning for educators to

meet the individual needs of all students.

Improve economic security and opportunity for military spouses.

To implement this action, DoD is pursuing three lines of effort: spouse employment,

childcare, and in-home fee assistance. For spouse employment, DoD has multiple

programs aimed to address this issue. One such program, the Spouse Education and

Career Opportunities (SECO) program provides information, tools, and resources

designed to assist military spouses in achieving their educational and employment

goals. In addition, the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP), an initiative

under the SECO program, is comprised of more than 540 employer partners that have

committed to recruiting, hiring, promoting, and retaining military spouses. DoD will

continue to build on those partnerships to provide spouses with rewarding job

opportunities. In December 2021, SECO, in partnership with MSEP partner, Instant

Teams, is piloting a workforce development program that will provide spouses the

opportunity for post-training job placement with a MSEP employer. Furthermore, SECO

is also working to provide resources and opportunities to support entrepreneurship that

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

will allow for greater flexibility to build a career that meets the needs of a military

spouse.

To address the barrier presented by lack of childcare, DoD is not only looking to expand

on-base options for child development centers, but is also expanding the Military Child

Care in Your Neighborhood (MCCYN)-PLUS initiative. Because safety is a preeminent

priority, DoD requires off-post childcare providers to meet various requirements. For

example, Service members may only enroll and use fee assistance for off-post childcare

programs that are nationally accredited. Despite fee assistance to obtain childcare in

the civilian community, some military families are unable to locate approved childcare

providers. In order to address this problem, the Department launched the MCCYN-

PLUS program in Maryland and Virginia in 2019. While still maintaining high standards,

this program allows the Service members to use childcare providers enrolled in a state’s

Child Care Quality Rating and Improvement System, rather than national accreditation

which can be cumbersome and expensive. Building on the success in Maryland and

Virginia, the Department expanded MCCYN-PLUS to Nevada in September 2021 and

projects expansion to California and Washington in early 2022. DoD is considering

expanding the program to Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas because these

areas have large populations of military families.

End food insecurity among military families.

The Department is taking immediate steps to address food insecurity, beginning with

developing a strategy and implementation roadmap on strengthening food security

across the Force, which will include lines of effort to better understand the causes of

food insecurity, address causes such as spouse unemployment and financial decision-

making, and explore resources to enhance access to healthy food choices.

Additionally, DoD is actively participating in the Joining Forces Interagency Policy

Committee (IPC) addressing food insecurity in the military. The IPC effort will identify

areas of collaboration between agencies that will ultimately result in a report outlining

plans for future research.

The Department also recognizes that a military family’s economic status is closely

linked to the Service member’s grade and position in the military. Accordingly, DoD is

implementing a range of initiatives to ensure equity for minority Service members at

critical career touchpoints, to include recruiting and accessions, progression and

promotion, and at the senior leader level.

Advance health equity in the Military Health System and benefits systems.

In some instances, when determined to be medically necessary, DoD provides limited

infertility diagnosis and treatment for eligible beneficiaries in accordance with applicable

laws and regulations. Additionally, adoption is supported by DoD through its leave

programs. For Service members who are not looking to start or expand their family,

TRICARE also covers certain contraception devices and medications such as intra-

uterine devices, birth control pills, and morning-after pills (“Plan B”).

Importantly, TRICARE Prime Access to Care standards are established for all

beneficiaries enrolled in TRICARE Prime, regardless of race or gender. Moreover,

DoD’s Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences published two studies

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which found that universal access to health care alleviates disparities for African-

American patients and mitigated higher rates of Potentially Avoidable Maternal

Complications among minority women. DoD is pleased it offers universal health

coverage to covered beneficiaries.

Finally, DoD policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity or

identification as transgender, provides a means by which individuals who meet

applicable standards may access into the military in their self-identified gender, provides

a means by which transitioning Service members may obtain gender-affirming medical

treatment and recognition of their self-identified gender, and seeks to protect the privacy

of all Service members. The Department is taking steps to fully implement this policy.

Tracking Progress

In the short term, schools on military installations will be renovated or constructed to

ensure an equitable, safe, and healthy learning environment for the children of military

families. Congress has appropriated over $2 billion for the Public Schools on Military

Installations Program. Investments to date have resulted in replacement, expansion, or

renovation of 18 schools, with 12 schools under construction (many nearing

completion), and another 16 in various stages of proposal/design development. These

projects are planned to benefit over 26,000 students annually, with over 70% of those

being DoD-connected. The goal of this program is to reinforce with military families that

children who attend these schools are learning in a safe and healthy environment.

To track progress in curriculum-related equity actions, DoDEA will use DEI working

group feedback, professional learning evaluations, student achievement data, and AP

class enrollment. Long-term success will be demonstrated by:

• Increased use of culturally responsive teaching strategies to meet the needs of

all students.

• Increased use of inclusive instructional practices such as co-teaching to provide

more access to challenging courses for students with disabilities.

• Increased student achievement on assessments by special populations of

students (e.g., students of color, special needs students, gender)

• Established DEI working groups throughout DoDEA by June 2022.

• Inclusion of DEI as a priority in the Director’s FY22 focus.

To track the progress of improving economic security, the SECO program, will monitor

and report pilot program promotion and uptake to Department leaders, and determine

whether to extend the pilot to additional MSEP employer partners. Moreover, DoD will

continue to monitor the expansion and effectiveness of childcare programs and

opportunities via the Deputy’s Workforce Council. Near-term success will be measured

by military spouses participating in the workforce development pilot, taking advantage of

expanded job opportunities in MSEP, and military families enrolling in expanded

childcare opportunities. In the long-term, DoD aims to reduce the unemployment rate

for military spouses.

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DoD is developing an implementation roadmap to address the issue of food insecurity.

This implementation roadmap will include milestones and will include a briefing to the

Deputy Secretary through the Deputy’s Workforce Council. Additionally, the Joining

Forces Initiative will track the progress of the IPC on Food Insecurity. Near-term

success will be measured by military leaders understanding the challenges and degrees

of food insecurity and providing Service members and families with tools and resources

to address food insecurity. In the long-term, DoD strives to reduce reports of food

insecurity within the Department.

In the health care realm, DoD will use industry-standard quality control processes to

gauge the ease, access, and satisfaction related to the health care services.

Accountability

First and foremost, DoD is accountable to the military families who participate in these

services. Accordingly, DoD will work with the local public school districts to survey

military families about their satisfaction with the renovated or newly built schools. Within

DoDEA, the Director will communicate his focus as part of DoDEA’s strategic plan, The

Blueprint for Continuous Improvement, in January 2022, which will include an emphasis

on diversity, equity, and inclusion for the students, families, and employees. This initial

introduction will be followed up with in-progress reviews at leadership meetings in

February 2022 and June 2022, as well as routine monthly meetings. Finally, DoDEA

has developed a communication plan that includes a website to provide ongoing

updates to its external stakeholders, and DEI-related articles for the DoDEA workforce.

The White House has been involved in efforts involving economic security, with both the

Joining Forces initiative, which identifies spouse employment as an area of focus, and

the IPC on food insecurity. Accordingly, the IPC similarly will be updated via briefings

and reports as to the Department’s progress on these efforts. Furthermore, spouse

employment, childcare availability, and food insecurity are frequently topics of interest

with both Congress and the media. As such, the Department will respond to related

queries in the near- and long-term.

The Military Health System will communicate progress through routine channels to its

beneficiaries and other key stakeholders. Regarding the updated policies providing

protection to transgender Service members, internal accountability on key issues

focused on readiness, equity, evolving medical science, and organizational culture are

reviewed by the Accession Medical Standards Working Group and Transgender Care

Integrated Product Team. The recommendations of the work groups are accountable to

the Medical and Personnel Executive Steering Committee and Deputy’s Workforce

Council.

Department of Defense Equity Action Plan

Action Four: Equitable Artificial Intelligence Research and

Development

The Department is dedicated to the safe and ethical use of AI technology and will

continue to advance best practices for developing, testing, and deploying AI responsibly

and equitably.

Barrier to Equitable Outcomes

As the Department progresses in its efforts to develop and integrate AI into decision-

making processes that impact DoD services and programs provided to the American

people, DoD seeks to incorporate equity in its ethical AI development practices. AI has

demonstrated remarkable benefits in helping to improve organizational efficiency.

However, modern applications of technology like machine learning (ML) can raise

ethical concerns due to the scope, scale, and speed at which they operate, potentially

learning and magnifying existing inequities that influenced historical data. Examples of

these issues have been reported in non-DoD systems, such as initial AI face recognition

algorithms having difficulty recognizing darker skinned individuals, and initial AI resume

screening algorithms learning and magnifying the biases of human screeners.

Ethical and equitable AI begins with good data. Poor and incomplete training data are

the single largest known contributors to AI bias. Modernizing the Department through

digitization and data collection are key first steps to controlling for the potential

algorithmic bias we know can express in smart systems. Therefore, as the Department

pushes forward on data collection and curation projects through its components, the

Department is simultaneously implementing these ethical principles in its AI programs.

Action and Intended Impact on Barrier

The DoD is working to implement AI into its day to day business and warfighting

operations. The Department’s emphasis and commitment to ethical AI includes the

following five principles:

1. Responsible. DoD personnel will exercise appropriate levels of judgment and

care, while remaining responsible for the development, deployment, and use of

AI capabilities.

2. Equitable. The Department will take deliberate steps to minimize unintended

bias in AI capabilities.

3. Traceable. The Department’s AI capabilities will be developed and deployed

such that relevant personnel possess an appropriate understanding of the

technology, development processes, and operational methods applicable to AI

capabilities, including with transparent and auditable methodologies, data

sources, and design procedure and documentation.

4. Reliable. The Department’s AI capabilities will have explicit, well‐defined uses,

and the safety, security, and effectiveness of such capabilities will be subject to

testing and assurance within those defined uses across their entire life‐cycles.

5. Governable. The Department will design and engineer AI capabilities to fulfill

their intended functions while possessing the ability to detect and avoid

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unintended consequences, and the ability to disengage or deactivate deployed

systems that demonstrate unintended behavior.

AI need not be a threat to equity; it can also be an ally. AI can help the Department

map innovative new pathways toward greater equity in hiring, promotion, retention, and

workforce management. Well-designed and continuously tested systems will also

ensure that when we must use the tools of lethality, that we do so in keeping with our

national values. Additionally, the DoD is among the largest data holders in the world, to

include health and medical data like that of the Joint Pathology Center that holds the

world’s largest tissue archive. This type of comprehensive data resource, combined

with carefully constructed AI, could be harnessed for next generation cancer and other

research with direct benefits to military readiness, as well as for the national and global

medical research population. Indeed, this data is extremely valuable as the U.S.

military is one of the country’s most diverse institutions.

To address the barriers identified above, the Department identified the following action:

Create a DoD-wide responsible AI development framework to ensure ethical (to

include equitable) AI in business as well as battlefield operations.

Over the past decade, the Department has been leaning forward to ensure the

responsible development, deployment, and use of AI within its operations. In October

2019, the Defense Innovation Board released a report titled AI Principles:

Recommendations on the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence by the Department of

Defense. In February 2020, following the recommendations from the Defense

Innovation Board, the Secretary of Defense adopted the five ethical principles for use of

AI. The second of these principles, “equitable,” ensures that any AI deployed by the

DoD will minimize potential biases. The Department is working to create

implementation plans for these principles.

In May 2021, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum titled

Implementing Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Defense. This

memorandum established tenets for RAI: RAI Governance, Warfighter Trust, AI

Product and Acquisition Lifecycle, Requirements Validation, Responsible AI Ecosystem,

and AI Workforce. The JAIC was tasked to be the Department’s coordinator for

development and implementation of the RAI Strategy. Furthermore, in November 2021,

the DIU publicly released voluntary implementation guidance for responsible AI

(https://www.diu.mil/responsible-ai-guidelines). This guidance provides practical

direction for how to include the DoD’s AI Ethics Principles, including equity, in AI

product planning, development, testing, and evaluation. Finally, the Test Resource

Management Center, working in collaboration with the JAIC, is creating a framework

that provides comprehensive, continuously updated, risk assessments to critical

decision makers across the DoD on the end-to-end weapon system life cycle. This

holistic approach encapsulates the DoD’s AI Ethical Principles and the Responsible AI

tenets.

Looking further into the future, the DoD is currently funding AI research on ethical AI. A

few examples of DoD research programs in this area are:

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• The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering is

sponsoring a current topic in DoD’s social science basic research program,

Minerva, on the “Social and Cultural Implications of Artificial Intelligence,” which

seeks to understand the process by which social and cultural practices influence

algorithmic and technology development. This is aimed at better understanding

where biases exist within systems and how they may affect people differently

across various cultural contexts.

• U.S. Army Development Command is expanding the study of moral dilemmas to

consider the risk profile of the situation and expand the space of acceptable

solutions for these dilemmas. In so doing, researchers are contributing to the

development of autonomous technology that abides by acceptable moral norms.

• The Naval Research Laboratory is exploring ways to build human-like capacities

for control, including self-control, into a computational cognitive architecture with

direct application to the concepts of “agency” and “responsibility” implied by both

every day and legal usage of those terms.

• The Air Force Research Laboratory Autonomy Capability Team 3 is working

closely with community leaders in Cincinnati, Ohio, to develop agent-based

modeling and machine learning to reduce violence and improve quality of life in

minority neighborhoods.

• The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Explainable AI program

aims to create a suite of ML techniques that give ML systems the capability to

explain their rationale for actions and decisions, to characterize their strengths

and weaknesses, and to convey an understanding of how they might

behave/perform in future missions or scenarios.

Finally, a more diverse AI workforce will likely increase our ability to anticipate potential

inequities (or recognize any that begin to emerge) and proactively mitigate them. DoD’s

partnerships with HBCUs/MSIs aim to overcome barriers in by fostering minority entry

into the AI Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce.

Furthermore, DoD will continue to make investments in HBCUs/MSIs through its COEs

and grants. The Department will continue to monitor the AI COE outputs and funding.

A more thorough discussion on the impact of these HBCU/MSI engagements is

provided in Action Five.

Tracking Progress

The Department’s goal is to develop a DoD-wide responsible AI development

framework to ensure ethical (to include equitable) AI in operations. DIU has drafted a

best-practice document for developing responsible AI that conforms to DoD’s AI Ethics

Principles and the Responsible AI tenets. Every year, this document will be reviewed

and updated by the AI DoD science and technology community to assure that these

guidelines reflect current best practices. The newly established Chief Digital Artificial

Intelligence Office, which is responsible for the adoption of AI and its ethics and equity

principles in operations, will create a process for ensuring the implementation of these

best practices across the Department in its adoption of AI into operations.

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Accountability

The Department will release its implementation plans and guidance publicly at

academic and international forums as well as industrial AI conferences to solicit

feedback and ensure that DoD S&T plans and guidance reflect best practices.

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Action Five: Underserved Community Investment

The Department seeks to invest in under-served communities and expand access to

DoD programs and opportunities. This includes advancing equity in K-12, college, and

university settings through DoD programs, partnerships, and federal grant opportunities.

This also capitalizes on military training initiatives that impact underserved communities.

Barrier to Equitable Outcomes

During its equity assessment, the Department explored a variety of programs to find

barriers to participation that members of underserved communities may encounter

preventing or limiting their ability to participate in DoD programs. In particular, DoD is

interested in fostering growth in STEM fields. DoD identified the following barriers:

• The lack of resources available to HBCUs/MSIs limits expanding infrastructure and

research capacity.

• Resource and funding constraints limit the extent to which DoD programs engage

with MSIs. The Department will review these requirements during its annual

program and budget review to ensure appropriate resources are provided for MSI

initiatives that align with Department strategic priorities.

• Despite upward trends, few DoD senior leadership roles are occupied by leaders

from MSIs. Currently, DoD senior leadership does not represent the racial and

ethnic makeup of the population the Department serves.

Action and Intended Impact on Barrier

To address the barriers identified above, the Department will implement the following

two actions:

Coordinate expanding investments in Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) across

the country.

Though DoD helps to increase the research and educational capacity of HBCUs/MSIs

and fosters workforce diversity and entry of underrepresented minorities into STEM

disciplines, the program is limited by HBCUs’/MSIs’ ability to withstand expansion of

their research capacity. Accordingly, the Department will focus on refining and

expanding its programs that work specifically with MSIs. The HBCU/MSI Program will

continue to invest in MSIs by funding research, enhancing infrastructure, and promoting

workforce development. This includes the Department’s efforts to promote MSI

involvement in DoD research activities and to build the STEM pipeline. One of these

efforts is the establishment of COEs in DoD’s priority areas, including AI and ML. The

AI/ML COE addresses current and future research and engineering challenges for safe,

robust, and trustworthy AI that support DoD’s modernization applications. DoD seeks to

engage MSIs in the AI/ML COE. To do this, DoD will include MSIs in the founding and

membership of COEs. Furthermore, the Department will pursue awarding research

grants to MSIs with the intent to advance capabilities and contributions to the workforce.

Recently, the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation Scholarship-for-

Service (SMART) program created a strategy to increase diversity within the SMART

program and the DoD civilian employee pipeline. This strategy includes activities and

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approaches to attract students from MSIs to the program. The strategy also includes

educating participating DoD sponsoring facilities on the technical strengths of MSIs and

the benefits of collaboration with them.

SMART continues to implement a broad range of diversity and inclusion efforts targeting

underrepresented/underserved groups through university visits, marketing, social

media, and informational webinars. The SMART Program office has sponsored 40-50

university visits (now virtual information sessions) and two webinars, and is continuing

to plan for additional events in FY 2022. Moreover, in FYs 2022 and 2023, SMART

plans to establish enduring partnerships with HBCU/MSIs through their administration,

faculty, and staff; create opportunities with COEs to increase awareness and

participation in SMART; and to build consortium and/or affinity group partnerships.

The Department seeks to develop research capacity in states and at institutions that

have traditionally received less research funding from the Department with its Defense

Establish Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR). DEPSCoR

performs outreach to underserved communities that includes bringing DoD program

managers on regional site visits. This provides researchers an opportunity to meet with

DoD leaders and understand the areas in which the Department’s research is currently

focused. DEPSCoR also pairs researchers in underserved states and institutions,

including MSIs, with researchers who are experienced in working with the Department,

thus enabling novice researchers to be mentored by DoD researchers.

DoD is also developing strategies for future Taking the Pentagon to the People

(TTPTTP) events. These strategies focus on strengthening the sustainable impact of

America’s institutions by supporting underserved institutions and communities and

ensuring MSI participation in COEs. To accomplish these goals, TTPTTP will continue:

• Refining strategic outreach and collaborative partnerships with affinity groups and

organizations that aim to expand access of underserved communities, improve racial

equity in the U.S., and bolster the ranks and presence of minorities working in DoD.

• Facilitating events between key DoD and MSI senior leaders through Presidential

Roundtables. This allows DoD and MSI senior leaders to engage in meaningful

dialogue on ways to enhance the infrastructure and build capacity for underserved

communities.

• Aligning DoD senior leaders with functional efforts to advance equity outcomes and

increase MSI access to DoD internships, contracts, grants, scholarships, surplus

equipment, and research and development opportunities enterprise-wide. This

includes sharing best practices, aligning the mission and vision of their

organizations, and leading initiatives that intentionally target eligible MSIs and

underserved communities.

Assess and increase investments in workforce readiness in K-12 settings.

The Department will develop a strategy for increasing K-12 workforce readiness

consistent with the Federal STEM Strategy, the DoD STEM Strategic Plan, and DoD

policy. Furthermore, the Department will leverage SMART in developing a

comprehensive approach to growing a diverse STEM talent pool through a continuum of

educational opportunities across the K-20 continuum. Currently, DoD engages in a

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variety of STEM educational and work-experiential activities to include summer STEM

camps, project/research-based competitions, fellowships, internships/apprenticeships,

teacher professional development, and curriculum development at pre-college and

postsecondary levels.

In addition to leveraging strategic plans for K-12 and K-20 programs, the Department

will engage its partners from academia, industry, not-for-profit sector, and other Federal

agencies to broaden its reach to underserved and underrepresented populations,

including military-connected students, Veterans, and military spouses. Such actions will

allow the Department to develop a holistic understanding of how its programs and

initiatives impact workforce readiness within a K-20 setting.

The Minerva Research Initiative is one example of the extended scope of K-20

workforce readiness. The Minerva Research Initiative supports social science research

aimed at improving the Department’s basic understanding of security. Through this

program, DoD expands its comprehension of the social, cultural, behavioral, and

political forces that shape regions of the world. In terms of K-20 education, the Minerva

Research Initiative sponsors a program called “Science of Science,” which in part

examines the access to and career trajectories of women in science. DoD seeks to

utilize programs like this to help explore where underrepresented groups encounter

obstacles in STEM careers so that policymakers develop policies that give more

equitable opportunities for all researchers.

Tracking Progress

The HBCU/MSI Program will track AI/ML project success by measuring research

advancements conducted at the AI COE and the pending contributions to the STEM

workforce. Progress will also be measured by the increase of involvement of

underserved and underrepresented communities and military-connected students.

Success and best practices will be shared through DoD member participation in the

Joint Artificial Intelligence Center Workforce Working Group.

Accountability

All of the K-12 STEM programs use demographic metrics to some extent to understand

impacts. The SMART program measures the percentage increase of HBCU/MSIs,

veterans and female scholars as semi-finalists and finalists.

Additionally, the Department will establish annual metrics to track and assess success

and trends in diversity programs. The Department will also support the Services’

strategies to recruit diverse officer candidates. DoD continues to allocate a significant

amount of resources toward recruiting, to include a focus toward minority and

underserved populations.