Biden Promotes DEI-Pushing Air Force Officials

As his disastrous presidency comes to a close, Joe Biden promoted several Air Force officials who have touted neo-Marxist ideology throughout the service.

According to a Pentagon press release, the Democrat president nominated Col. Patric D. Coggin and Brig. Gen. Barbra S. Buls to the ranks of brigadier general and major general, respectively. Coggin currently serves as a commander in the Arkansas Air National Guard, while Buls serves as a commander in the Air National Guard Readiness Center and is stationed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

The Federalist has learned that both individuals have outwardly promoted radical left-wing orthodoxy such as “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) in their capacities as military officials. (DEI demands merit be dismissed in favor of a discriminatory system that prioritizes an individual’s personal features, such as skin color and sexual orientation).

In February 2023, Coggin was a featured guest on the “AR Minuteman Moment,” a podcast that “highlights what the 189th Airlift Wing accomplishes for the community, state and nation.” The Air Force colonel’s joint interview alongside Chief Master Sgt. Regina L. Monk, a black female, focused on Black History Month and, as the episode description reads, “what we can do as leaders to ensure our Airmen grow up in the Air National Guard with the best outlook on inclusion for all.”

After speaking about his experiences growing up, Coggin, a white male, referenced the significance of Black History Month and the progress black Americans have made throughout U.S. history, but claimed the country “still ha[s] a lot further to go.”

“The month allows us to reflect on … where we came from,” Coggin said. “To me, and I know [Monk] meant this, but I want to make sure we verbalize it. It’s also remembering we have a lot further to go.”

The Air Force colonel went on to discuss normalizing what he and the host referred to as “difficult conversations” about race in America. He further dismissed the concept of teaching children to ignore skin color, saying it’s “not nearly enough” to reject the country’s past embrace of slavery and move on.

“When I was growing up … what I was always taught by teachers and counselors … is, like, well, we just have to get to a spot where we’re ignoring the color of our skin,” Coggin said. “I think what got lost along the way is … while the intent of what they’re trying to teach us as [kids] … was pure, we realized that just not talking about it was not nearly enough to solve the problem of what the history of slavery in this country brought about, and that we had to have those conversations to solve it. We just couldn’t ignore it to solve the problem.”

But Coggin didn’t stop there. He later talked about some military leaders’ frustration with prioritizing “diversity” in finding the “best person” for a job and suggested that while he doesn’t believe there’s anything “immoral about that,” he thinks those moments can be used to discuss the significance of “diversity” in the hiring process.

“Those tough conversations can then be about, ‘Well, why isn’t diversity good for your job?’” Coggin said. “And I don’t think anyone has a good answer to that question, which tells me there’s something more there.”

“Do we only want to hire someone for the color of their skin? Of course not. Of course not. But is diversity part of what we want to have in our military? Absolutely,” he added while citing the significance of “diversity of thought.”

[Report: The Military’s Obsession With DEI Politics Is Hampering Its Readiness]

Meanwhile, Buls has her own track record of promoting neo-Marxist ideology. According to the National Guard’s website, as of September 2024, the Air Force brigadier general is “the Special Assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau, for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Director, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”

While serving in that capacity, Buls attended and gave a speech at a June 2023 “pride fest” held at Joint Base Andrews. In her remarks, Buls “emphasized the significance of diversity and representation within the military,” according to a summary provided on the base’s website.

Coggin and Buls are hardly the first DEI-pushing military officials Biden has nominated. In recent years, the president has promoted numerous officers who have displayed an infatuation with such ideology and, in some cases, open antagonism toward Americans who refuse to endorse their leftist worldview.

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood