Years of service in a Naval submarine and the Department of Defense led Ashish Vazirani to a conclusion: An effective military requires diversity.

Vazirani, now the Under Secretary of Defense, testified this week in a Baltimore federal courtroom as the Naval Academy defended its consideration of race in admissions.

The Annapolis-based military school was sued by Students for Fair Admissions, an anti-affirmative action group arguing that the Naval Academy’s efforts to boost minority enrollment discriminate against white students. That group prevailed last year in a similar lawsuit against Harvard and the University of North Carolina that restricted how race can be considered in college admissions.

But the Naval Academy shouldn’t be treated like a civilian college, its attorneys argue. Its students, called midshipmen, graduate as commissioned officers who then rise through the ranks in a system that only promotes from within.

At the core of the Academy’s defense: Racial diversity in the military is a “national security imperative.”

“The military’s interest here is not simply in diversity for its own sake,” Department of Justice lawyers representing the Naval Academy wrote in court filings.

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The defense is leaning into a footnote in the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that withheld judgement on military academies because of their “potentially distinct interests,” an exemption that Students for Fair Admissions is now challenging. The Naval Academy is asking a district court judge to preserve that exemption and allow it to continue considering race “in a limited fashion only to further the military’s distinct operational and strategic interests.”

Citing long-standing Department of Defense practices, as well as his personal experiences as the only officer of color on his submarine, Vazirani said diverse leadership promotes unit cohesion, supports efforts to recruit and retain talent, and increases the military’s legitimacy at home and abroad.

The military is most effective when its leaders reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the nation and the diverse forces they lead, witnesses for the Naval Academy have testified. Vazirani, who is South Asian, recalled how when he was a naval officer, minority service members would reach out for advice on how to fit in at the military. Those experiences helped reinforce how diverse leadership can promote trust, communication and a sense of belonging, he said.

Vazirani added that at a time of declining recruitment numbers, minority representation in the officer corps can inspire people to join the military. It helps affirm that there are opportunities for service and advancement regardless of an individual’s background, he said.

Approximately 40% of senior naval officers are graduates of the Naval Academy, according to court documents.

“Thus, the needs of the military as a fighting force depend in unusually direct fashion on the admissions policies of USNA and other service academies,” government lawyers wrote.

In court filings, lawyers for Students for Free Admissions argued that the Naval Academy should be treated no differently than the selective colleges and universities that were subject to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

They claimed there is no evidence that officer corps diversity is connected to military effectiveness. That argument, they wrote, “rests on the pernicious stereotype that military officers from one racial demographic can bring something that officers of other races cannot.”

“The Academy apparently thinks that a Mexican-American sailor is more likely to follow a white officer of Spanish descent, just because he checked the box for ‘Hispanic,’” the lawyers wrote.

During cross-examination of the Naval Academy’s witnesses this week, lead plaintiff attorney Adam Mortara questioned whether race-conscious admissions policies have been effective at diversifying the officer corps. He displayed Navy statistics showing minority officers remain significantly underrepresented at higher ranks and in specialty units.

Despite progress, “we’re not where we’d like to be,” Vazirani acknowledged.

The Naval Academy has said its admissions practices are informed by history.

According to court documents and defense testimony from historians Beth Bailey and John Sherwood, racist practices were pervasive in the military through the Vietnam War era. Black service members worked dangerous and menial jobs for lower wages, faced discrimination in promotions and received discipline for arbitrary offenses. The officer corps at the time was almost entirely white.

Racism and segregation fueled tension and discord within the military, culminating in an eruption of racial violence during the Vietnam War that threatened U.S. capabilities, diminished public perception of the military and launched a Congressional investigation, the historians testified.

The result was an effort to commission more Black officers, particularly through the service academies.

“Senior military leaders recognized that the scarcity of minority officers created distrust within the force and the nation and helped fuel the racial tensions that so critically undermined mission readiness,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in court filings.

Under cross-examination by plaintiff attorney Rachael Wyrick, Bailey acknowledged that significant racial unrest hasn’t occurred in the military since the 1970s. But she added that the military has a lengthy tradition of “looking to history for lessons.”

Vazirani also disputed the idea that racial violence is a problem of the past. He said returning to an era without race-conscious admissions practices in the military would be a “dangerous experiment” that could undermine safety and readiness.

“The Department is not willing to repeat those risks,” he said.

Last week, Students for Fair Admissions presented witnesses with decades of military experience who acknowledged traits like gender or linguistic skills might be helpful in certain combat situations. But they argued racial and ethnic diversity was irrelevant.

Instead, a military’s effectiveness depends on training, resources and leadership, they said. And cohesion emerges through the collective experience of wearing the same uniform and enduring rigorous training. Considering race “undoes all this work” of bringing a unit together, retired Lt. Col. Dakota Wood said.

The trial is in its second week at the U.S. District Court for Maryland and is expected to conclude by Friday. Judge Richard Bennett will decide the case without the assistance of a jury.