SecDef Proposes Getting Rid of Military Promotion Photos to Eliminate Unconscious Bias

The purpose of the photo is to present a fit professional appearance. It coincides with reviewing your ERB to ensure your uniform is put together correctly. I believe it should still be a part of the packet. We have way too many seniors that somehow manage to pass their tape but can barely fit in their uniform.

I'm of two minds.
First, the photo tells the board a lot. Like attention to detail in putting the uniform together, matching your ERB, and body fat (I witnessed an NCO get taped because the promotion board called down to the unit and said he looked fat. They wanted verification that he was in standard. He was 3% over.)
OTOH, racism is a thing. It ain't going away, and it ain't always intentional. Doing away with the photo is a great step to combat this - but if we are going to do that, we also need to redact names. Not all names are a giveaway, but many have very strong racial or ethnic associations.

Air Force did away with promotion photographs when Fogelman was the AF Chief of Staff; Great decision. A person should be promoted based on their' record, not on personal appearance. Appearance is too subjective; it's based on how the viewer perceives the photograph. I had Army troops coming from all over to have my facility shoot their DA photos because we were superior photographers compared to the Army shooters work I saw. It got so bad up in Alaska that we had to start charging the Army for our materials used. That lasted about a year then the Army stopped that one.