CHIEF NATIONAL 

GUARD BUREAU 

INSTRUCTION

UNCLASSIFIED

NGB-DI CNGBI 9651.01A

DISTRIBUTION: A 20 August 2018

NATIONAL GUARD DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

References: See Enclosure B.

1. Purpose. This instruction establishes policy and assigns responsibilities for 

National Guard (NG) diversity and inclusion in accordance with (IAW) 

references a through m.

2. Cancellation. This instruction supersedes and replaces CNGBI 9651.01, 

21 October 2014, “National Guard Diversity and Inclusion,” and cancels 

CNGBI 9650.01A, 14 December 2015, “National Guard Joint Diversity 

Executive Council.”

3. Applicability. This instruction applies to all NG elements.

4. Policy. It is NG policy to institutionalize diversity and inclusion by

developing an agile, ready, innovative and adaptive force to attract, recruit, and 

retain a quality, inclusive, and equitable work force that reflects the 

communities it serves. The National Guard Bureau (NGB) Office of Diversity 

and Inclusion (NGB-DI) will create a NG Diversity and Inclusion Strategic 

framework that aligns with the Department of Defense (DoD) Diversity and 

Inclusion Strategic Plan, and adheres to Military Leadership Diversity 

Commission (MLDC) recommendations, which include:

a. Engaging in activities to expand the pool of qualified candidates and

improving recruiting from the currently available pool of qualified candidates.

b. Enabling Service members to make informed career choices from 

accession to retirement -- with special emphasize on mentoring.

c. Eliminating combat exclusion policies for women.
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2

d. Improving transparency in performance, expectations, promotion criteria 

and processes for Service members.

e. Ensuring promotion board precepts provide guidance on how to value 

Service-directed special assignments outside normal career paths or fields.

f. Explaining gender gap retention.

g. Managing personnel with mission-critical skills sets better.

h. Implementing clear, consistent, robust diversity management policies.

i. Instituting accountability and internal and external monitoring for both 

the active and reserve components.

j. Conducting annual barrier analyses.

k. Including an assessment of qualified minority and female candidates for 

top leadership positions in the diversity annual report to Congress. 

5. Definitions. See Glossary.

6. Responsibilities. See Enclosure A. 

7. Summary of Changes. This instruction has been extensively revised.

8. Releasability. This instruction is approved for public release; distribution is 

unlimited. Obtain copies through <http://www.ngbpdc.ngb.army.mil>.

9. Effective Date. This instruction is effective upon signature and must be 

reissued, canceled, or certified as current within five years from the date 

signed.

Enclosures:

A -- Responsibilities

B -- References

GL -- Glossary
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A-1 Enclosure A

ENCLOSURE A

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Chief of the National Guard Bureau (CNGB). The CNGB will institutionalize 

diversity and inclusion in the NG and establish the NG Joint Diversity 

Executive Council (JDEC). 

2. Director of the Army National Guard (DARNG) and Director of the Air 

National Guard (DANG). The DARNG and DANG will develop and execute Army 

National Guard (ARNG) and Air National Guard (ANG) Diversity and Inclusion 

Strategic Plans IAW NGB policy, and in coordination with the NG Diversity and 

Inclusion Strategic Plan.

3. Director of NGB Joint Staff (DNGBJS). The DNGBJS will oversee NGB-DI 

and provide guidance, and support to the 54 States, Territories, and District of 

Columbia in achieving the goals and objectives listed in the NG Diversity and 

Inclusion Strategic Plan. 

4. The Special Assistant to the CNGB on Diversity and Inclusion. The Special 

Assistant to the CNGB on Diversity and Inclusion will advise the CNGB on NG 

coordination and alignment with the Department of Defense (DoD) Diversity 

and Inclusion Strategic Plan and provide strategic oversight of NG diversity and 

inclusion coordination. 

5. Chief of NGB-DI. The Chief of NGB-DI will:

a. Serve as the executive-level diversity and inclusion strategist for the 

NGB. 

b. Advise the CNGB, the NG JDEC, the Special Assistant to the CNGB on 

Diversity and Inclusion, and NG leadership on developing and implementing a 

strategic framework for NG Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan. 

c. Assess, evaluate, and develop policies and processes aimed at adjusting 

NG culture, perspectives, and biases towards an inclusive environment.

d. Participate in DoD, joint and interagency level activities in supporting the

CNGB diversity and inclusion mission and representing the NG during related 

outreach events.

e. Provide processes and oversight of NG diversity and inclusion joint 

coordination across the Services to ensure mutual support in all aspects and 

manners, for example, implementing the MLDC recommendations.
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A-2 Enclosure A

f. Assess and develop policies and processes with quantifiable measures to 

recruit, identify, develop, and assign an inclusive talent pipeline for the NGB.

g. Develop guidance aimed at eliminating barriers that inhibit the 

advancement of diversity and inclusion practices.

h. Develop internal controls to streamline existing processes, communicate,

and innovate new approaches to ensure unity of effort across the States, 

Territories, and District of Columbia through multiple diversity and inclusion 

platforms.

i. Work with the NG JDEC, the Special Assistant to the CNGB on Diversity 

and Inclusion, and key stakeholders to ensure that opportunities are fair and 

inclusive across the NG.

j. Request adequate resources to efficiently execute and meet statutory and 

policy responsibilities in support of diversity and inclusion.

k. Coordinate NGB joint-level, ARNG, and ANG diversity and inclusion 

offices or functions to eliminate redundancies, ensure unity of effort, 

streamline existing processes, innovate new processes, and engage in mutual 

support to provide policy, guidance, and oversight to the 54 States, Territories, 

and District of Columbia more rapidly, efficiently, and effectively.

6. NGB-DI. NGB-DI will:

a. Provide support to the NG JDEC.

b. Provide advisory and programmatic support to the Chief of NGB-DI.

c. Develop, implement and monitor programs that promote diversity and 

inclusion throughout the NG IAW the strategic diversity and inclusion 

framework. 

d. Ensure that the Chief of NGB-DI and the Special Assistant to the CNGB 

on Diversity and Inclusion are supported in their roles and responsibilities as 

outlined in this instruction and IAW references b through f.

7. The Adjutants General (TAGs) and the Commanding General of the District 

of Columbia (CG). TAGs and the CG may develop State diversity and inclusion 

initiatives and procedures to implement NG policy in support of diversity and 

inclusion goals IAW the NG Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan.
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A-3 Enclosure A

8. Commanders and Other Senior Military Leaders. Commanders and other 

senior military leaders will directly engage by:

a. Communicating and modeling inclusive diversity behaviors and providing 

the necessary leadership and support to attract and develop a workforce that 

reflects the broad diversity of the recruiting base.

b. Promoting diversity and inclusion as essential elements for achieving 

high morale, innovation, readiness, and lethality and holding subordinate 

leaders accountable for achieving organizational diversity and inclusion goals 

and objectives.

c. Using the guidance and metrics in the NG Diversity and Inclusion 

Strategic Plan to identify and implement best practices as well as to identify 

and eliminate non–merit based barriers.

d. Providing access to resources and tools for the professional development 

of personnel designated to provide diversity and inclusion subject matter 

expertise.

e. Coordinating with TAGs to implement the TAG Checklist as published in 

the NG Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan.

9. Managers and Other Civilian Supervisors. Managers and other civilian 

supervisors will:

a. Provide access to resources and tools to inform, educate, and train 

civilian personnel on the tenets, requirements, and benefits of diversity and 

inclusion.

b. Measure trends and results of the organization’s efforts to 

institutionalize diversity and inclusion, using the metrics as directed in the 

NG Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan.

c. Use data-driven strategies IAW existing guidance and direction to 

optimize diversity implementation strategies.

d. Coordinate with all stakeholder offices and functions to achieve the 

organization’s diversity and inclusion goals and objectives.
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B-1 Enclosure B

ENCLOSURE B

REFERENCES

a. DoD Directive 5105.77, 30 October 2015, “National Guard Bureau,”

Incorporating Change 1, 10 October 2017

b. Executive Order 13583, 18 August 2011, “Establishing a Coordinated 

Government-Wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal 

Workforce”

c. Presidential Memorandum, 05 October 2016, “Promoting Diversity and 

Inclusion in the National Security Workforce”

d. DoD Directive 1020.02E, 08 June 2015, “Diversity Management and 

Equal Opportunity in the DoD,” Incorporating Change 1, 29 November 2016

e. CNGB Memorandum, 02 February 2018, “Memorandum for National Guard 

Soldiers, Airmen and Civilians”

f. Public Law 110-417, 14 October 2008, “Duncan Hunter National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009”

g. Air Force Policy Directive 36-70, 13 October 2010, “Diversity”

h. Army Regulation 690-12, 22 December 2016, “Equal Employment 

Opportunity and Diversity”

i. Army Regulation 600-20, (Army Command Policy and Procedures,” 06 

November 2014

j. Executive Order 13171, 12 October 2000, “Hispanic Employment in the 

Federal Government”

k. Executive Order 13163, 26 July 2000, “Increasing the Opportunity for 

Individuals with Disabilities to Be Employed in the Federal Government”

l. CNGB Instruction 5400.01, 17 August 2017, “National Guard Bureau 

Advisory Committee Management Program” 

m. NG Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, 01 June 2011
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GL-1 Glossary

GLOSSARY

PART I. ACRONYMS

ANG Air National Guard

ARNG Army National Guard

CNGB Chief of the National Guard Bureau

DNGBJS Director of the National Guard Bureau Joint Staff

DoD Department of Defense

IAW In accordance with

JDEC Joint Diversity Executive Council

MLDC Military Leadership Diversity Commission

NG National Guard

NGB National Guard Bureau

NGB-DI National Guard Bureau Office of Diversity and 

Inclusion

TAG The Adjutant General

VCNGB Vice Chief of the National Guard Bureau

PART II. DEFINITIONS

Diversity -- All the characteristics and attributes of individuals, cultures, and 

organizations aligned with Department of Defense core values, integral to 

overall readiness, and mission accomplishment, that reflect the Nation we 

serve.

Inclusion -- Valuing and leveraging individual differences for organizational 

success which includes the involvement and empowerment, where the inherent 

worth and dignity of each Guardsman and Guardswoman is recognized.

Institutionalize -- The creation of a permanent strategic framework for 

sustaining a diverse and inclusive workforce with an organizational climate 

that harnesses an individual’s holistic characteristics to advance the mission of 

the National Guard.