Top contender to lead Air Force called DEI a top priority for the military

A reported top contender to replace the current head of the Air Force has a long history of supporting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the military.

Air Force Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach has emerged as a top contender to replace the retiring Gen. David Allvin as the next Air Force Chief of Staff, sources told Breaking Defense in August. However, Wilsbach has openly endorsed DEI initiatives and left-wing racial justice narratives, which appear to contradict Defense Secretary Hegseth’s mission to keep left-wing politics out of the military.

Wilsbach, during his time as Commander of the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), appeared in a video after the death of George Floyd in 2020 captioned “Dialogue on Race.” In the video Wilsbach said that he would ensure that “diversity and inclusion is a reality in PACAF.”

This should not happen. Hopefully @PeteHegseth is made aware of how woke this guy is. https://t.co/GA53LBGyiN

— Wade Miller (@WadeMiller_USMC) September 5, 2025

The general also wrote in a 2021 article that DEI was a top priority for the Air Force.

“When I took command, I laid out four priorities – diversity, readiness, innovation, and lethality – to focus our efforts,” Wilsbach wrote.

Wilsbach also participated in a virtual conference with PACAF, which hosted speakers who stressed the importance of DEI.

One of Hegseth’s major goals during his tenure in the Pentagon is to root out left-wing political projects and the personnel in the military and the Pentagon.

“The fight against decades of politicization must be more stringent and absolute to reclaim America’s military,” Will Thibeau, director of the American Military Project, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “As such, DEI advocates like General Wilsbach cannot be allowed to serve as senior leaders in the Air Force. His brazen, public embrace of DEI is disqualifying, because it is clear diversity is something in which he wholeheartedly believes in and out of uniform.”

The Pentagon deferred to the Air Force, which did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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