{"id":353823,"date":"2016-04-04T10:47:11","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T15:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/military\/administrative-issues-benefits\/equal-opportunity-policies-in-the-military.html"},"modified":"2016-06-20T20:25:06","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T01:25:06","slug":"equal-opportunity-policies-in-the-military","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/military\/administrative-issues-benefits\/equal-opportunity-policies-in-the-military.html","title":{"rendered":"Equal Opportunity Policies in the Military"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Equal Opportunity Policies in the Military<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

Those who serve in the military come from a wide range of social, religious, and ethnic backgrounds and it\u2019s the policy of the Department of Defense<\/a> (DoD) to ensure "opportunities for all DoD personnel to rise to as high a level of responsibility as their abilities allow."<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The U.S. military is the largest agency of the federal government. In addition to its size, the military also has a workforce that is becoming increasingly diverse. Among its active duty members, for example, minorities constitute just over 30% of the force and women over 14%.<\/p>\r\n

 This focus on abilities, rather than background, is designed to create a culture where recruitment, professional development, and promotions are all based on merit. This is where the military’s equal opportunity program comes into play, which consists of the following two programs:<\/p>\r\n