Did DEI fail to make our military stronger?

That's the claim made by our new entry-level Secretary of Defense. Let's see if it holds up to history.

The USAF’s first best pilot, 1949 Top Gun winner James Harvey III.

The most famous DEI initiative by the US military was the Tuskegee Airmen — the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group — created as a “racial experiment” to see if Black pilots could handle the job. Their war record was exceptional. Flying their famous “red tail” P-51 Mustangs, they defended bombers against Nazi fighters, averaging only half as many bombers lost as other groups. They shot down 112 enemy aircraft in dogfights (including three Me-262 jet fighters). In 1949, the US Air Force held its very first Top Gun competition. It was won by a team of four Tuskegee Airmen: Capt. Alva Temple, 1st Lt. James Harvey III, 1st Lt. Harry Stewart and 1st Lt. Halbert Alexander.