Principal Director Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity

Clarence A. Johnson

In February 2003, Clarence A. Johnson was selected to the Senior Executive Service and assigned as Principal Director and Director for Civilian Equal Employment Opportunity, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Equal Opportunity) at the Pentagon; the office was renamed in 2006 to the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity. In that capacity, he is responsible for the development and coordination of diversity management and equal opportunities policies and programs affecting all DoD civilian employees and military personnel within DoD worldwide. He also provides senior DoD staff liaison with the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI), a 100-member institution, located at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, which is the premiere DoD school in equal opportunity and equal employment opportunity training, education and research. Mr. Johnson serves as principal advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Readiness) and the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) on diversity management, equal opportunity and equal employment opportunity matters.
In January 2009, Mr. Johnson was selected to a special temporary assignment, where he stood up a permanent organization with a key requirement to oversee policies that ensure support for our wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. Supporting the Secretary’s priorities, the organization he built, the Executive Secretariat (Senior Oversight Committee and Joint Executive Council)/Office of Strategic Planning and Performance Management (ES), served as the key forcing function for integrating DoD and VA activities.
From May 2009 until February 2010, while the Department awaited the appointment of political leadership in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness—P&R), Mr. Johnson was chosen to serve as the Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Plans). In that key P&R role, he provided leadership and oversight of all Plans functions, to include the ES, the Defense Language Office, the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, the Office of Diversity Management
and Equal Opportunity, the National Security Education Program Office and the Office of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.
From May 2010 until July 2010, Mr. Johnson was again designated as the Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Plans).
Before serving the Department of Defense as a civil servant, Mr. Johnson was an active duty Air Force colonel serving in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Equal Opportunity as Director, Military Equal Opportunity. In that capacity, he formulated and provided policy guidance to the military components regarding policies and programs which prescribe, promote, coordinate and enforce equal opportunity and treatment of active duty and Reserve component military personnel; oversaw policy implementation and evaluated/monitored the performance of DoD component programs; and provided staff oversight for DEOMI.
Mr. Johnson entered active duty service as a C141 navigator. In addition to global airlift and contingency operations, his tours of duty included the Military Airlift Command Plans staff and Air Staff Training (ASTRA). He was a squadron commander three times and a group commander twice. Additionally, he held increasingly responsible positions at the headquarters and installation level. His decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal (with one Oak Leaf Cluster), the Legion of Merit, and the Meritorious Service Medal (with three oak leaf clusters).
Mr. Johnson holds a master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Webster University, Missouri, and a Bachelors Degree in Biology from Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. Mr. Johnson is also a graduate of Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College, Alabama, and the National Security Management Course, National Defense University.
He and his wife, Gloria, reside in Clinton, Maryland. They have three children: Clarence, Jr. (USAF Lt. Col. and fighter pilot); Joi; and Daniel.