RAF Reportedly Turned Away White Male Recruits to ‘Artificially Inflate’ Diversity Stats

Earlier this week, the head of the UK’s RAF recruiting team resigned amid concerns the service paused recruitment of white males in favor of ethnic minorities and women in order to tackle diversity-related issues.

Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) tried to artificially raise its diversity numbers in order to achieve hiring targets for female and ethnic minority recruits, Sky News has cited three unnamed defense sources as saying.

The sources claimed that recruitment officers were ordered to prioritize placing women and ethnic minority candidates in training courses by March 31, 2021.

One of the insiders asserted that the goal was to “artificially inflate the numbers" for that recruiting year, adding, “this was clearly positive discrimination.”

The source apparently referred to the practice of favoring someone due to “protected characteristics,” in an attempt to reduce inequality. In the workplace, the practice could occur if someone is hired or promoted because they were members of an underrepresented group.

The RAF’s in-house diversity drive also appears to be confirmed by a number of documents seen by Sky News, including one that reads, “the Recruitment Force continues to prioritize female candidates from the VA (Virtual Armed Forces Careers Office) for CRM (customer relationship management).”

One more document noted that the progression of ethnic minority candidates was similarly being tracked, and that “the Recruitment Force continues to prioritize BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates) from the VA for CRM (cockpit resource management), whilst Rec Ops (recruitment operations) prioritizes its loading onto BRTC (basic training course).”

UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey responded by pledging that any evidence of so-called positive discrimination would be meticulously investigated and would not be tolerated.

He stressed that they “have asked for the Armed Forces to improve their diversity, but we will not accept courses beginning anything other than full, and we won't accept any lowering of standards, and we won't accept any operational impact.”

“But we're content for the chief of the air staff and his team to look at what they could legally do in terms of positive action, providing that the conditions the secretary of state and I have set are met,” Heappey added.

A RAF spokesperson, in turn, upheld the service’s recruitment push, saying that “operational effectiveness is of paramount importance, and no one is lowering the standards to join the Royal Air Force.”

“The RAF recruits for many professions and, like the rest of the Armed Forces, is determined to be a force that reflects the society it serves to protect. The Royal Air Force has a well-earned reputation for operational excellence that is founded on the quality of all our people. We will always seek to recruit the best talent available to us,” the spokesperson emphasized.

The remarks came after Sky News quoted separate defense sources as saying that the RAF head – a senior female office whose name was not revealed – quit a few days ago in protest against “an effective pause” on recruiting white men. The sources argued that such a pause could undermine the RAF’s combat strength, berating the service for trying to hit "impossible" diversity targets.

In December 2021, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin made it clear in his first speech as head of the UK Armed Forces that he expected RAF chiefs to make diversity a priority.

Diversity is not about “wokefulness,” he said at the time, adding, “It is about woefulness. The woefulness of too few women. The woefulness of not reflecting the ethnic, religious and cognitive diversity of our nation”.