Top Contender To Lead Air Force Under Fire For Embracing DEI Programs
Air Force Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach is being floated as a frontrunner to replace retiring Gen. David Allvin as the next Chief of Staff of the Air Force. But his long track record of championing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives is drawing sharp criticism from those who argue such programs weaken the military’s core mission.
According to Breaking Defense, Wilsbach is high on the list of candidates under review. However, his outspoken embrace of left-wing social policies could run headlong into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s stated objective: stripping politics out of the armed forces and restoring the Pentagon’s focus on warfighting.
A Record of DEI Activism
As commander of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) in 2020, Wilsbach released a video called Dialogue on Race following the death of George Floyd. In it, he pledged to make “diversity and inclusion a reality in PACAF.”
He later reinforced that position in a 2021 article, writing that DEI ranked among his four central priorities.
“When I took command, I laid out four priorities – diversity, readiness, innovation, and lethality – to focus our efforts,” Wilsbach wrote at the time.
He also joined virtual PACAF conferences featuring guest speakers who pushed the importance of DEI programs within the force.
Critics Sound the Alarm
Wilsbach’s repeated endorsement of DEI has triggered alarm among military reformers who believe the service cannot afford more ideological distractions.
“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,” Thibeau added.
The criticism comes as President Trump’s defense team is working to uproot the DEI bureaucracy embedded during the Biden years. Hegseth has been clear: his mission is to rebuild the U.S. military into a “lethal fighting machine” by dismantling programs that elevate ideology over merit and readiness.
Supporters Highlight Experience
Despite the growing pushback, some within the Air Force emphasize Wilsbach’s long record of operational leadership, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. As PACAF commander, he managed operations against an increasingly aggressive China and directed some of America’s most advanced aircraft in contested environments.
Still, his candidacy has crystallized the deeper debate about the future of America’s armed forces: Will the military double down on DEI and identity politics, or follow Hegseth’s vision of discipline, meritocracy, and lethality as its guiding principles?
The Pentagon has referred questions on Wilsbach’s candidacy to the Air Force, which did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation.