Talk:Kathleen Hicks

WP:DUE

She is married to Tom Hicks and they have three children: Benjamin, Margaret, and Alexander. "Mrs. Hicks does not prefer to talk about her marriage and personal life as she is highly professional about her work. But Kathleen has admitted that her husband and her children are the backbones of her career."[12][13]Her parents are Rear Admiral Thomas J. Holland Jr. and Ann, and she has 5 siblings.[14] is poorly sourced and as per WP:BLPPRIMARY court records (and similar) should not be used, particularly for content like this. Aside from that, this is silly, trivial puffery. CUPIDICAE💕 20:44, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

Trivial puffery ... well, that is your opinion, I could point out millions of wikipedia entries with personal information to the contrary.

I'm less concerned about the BLPPRIMARY issue because it is a matter of public record, though her specific statement "Mrs. Hicks does not prefer to talk about her marriage and personal life" indicates to me that we sohudln't be publishing the full names of her family and especially children but at the very least, the section is way undue and super puffy. CUPIDICAE💕

20:50, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

let me fix that, I'll take it out because its from the other site

better now

Stop. Editing. The Article. You have reverted nearly a dozen times now. CUPIDICAE💕 20:54, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

And again, this doesn't address my concerns above. Revert it. CUPIDICAE💕 20:55, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

• There are 0 sources discussing her family and while it is part of a public record, we should respect WP:BLPPRIVACY. This needs to be removed until consensus is formed. CUPIDICAE💕 14:49, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

This really is mere puffery in this article. Hicks apparently never served in the military, has a Ph.D. in Political Science, and was in diapers as the Vietnam War ended. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.49.27.38 (talk) 16:33, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

A suggestion for improving this article

On behalf of the Hicks family, and as part of my work with Beutler Ink, I plan to start proposing some changes to this article to bring it more up-to-date and better reflect Kathleen Hicks' career, especially to improve its accuracy, neutrality, and sourcing. I plan to submit a few separate suggestions, and in order to visualize the overall goal I have made a copy of the article's markup and generated a diff to show the changes I intend to propose. The draft article I have in mind is rendered in full at User:WWB Too/Kathleen Hicks, and the areas with colored text are where I will be seeking editor review.

To start, I would like to propose a text change to the article's introduction, as well as the first paragraph of the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense section. Both describe her as "the highest ranking woman currently serving in the United States Department of Defense". In my draft, I've change this text to "the highest ranking woman to have served in the United States Department of Defense". This more accurately reflects the Fortune article already used as an inline citation, which says: "Dr. Kathleen Hicks—the first female deputy secretary of the Department of Defense and the highest-ranking woman in Pentagon history—questioned Navy leaders on their commitment to increasing diversity." I think it is helpful to readers for her biography to note the full extent of her achievement: that she is the highest ranking woman to have ever served, not just the current highest-ranking woman.

If editors agree this is a worthy text change, can someone update the article on my behalf? Best, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 23:15, 3 April 2024 (UTC)

@WWB Too:  Done and why not. Thanking you also for the COI adherence. It's a shame that sometimes doing as one is asked around here almost inevitably means it takes twice as long to get anything you want actually done, of course. Cheers, ——Serial Number 54129 18:35, 12 April 2024 (UTC)

@Serial Number 54129: Thanks, I really appreciate it. I saw the exchange with Chris Troutman at MILHIST, and hope you do not feel misled. I always mean to state my COI clearly, and disclosed it at the top of this talk page prior to making my first request. I'll have additional suggestions to make soon. If you're up for reviewing them, great, if not I won't bug you again. Cheers, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 19:57, 12 April 2024 (UTC)

Request to add Commission on the National Defense Strategy, update board roles

Following implementation of my previous edit request, I have another content suggestion for this article. As stated previously, I have a financial COI regarding Kathleen Hicks and will not edit the article myself.

Currently, the article includes the following text, per this source:

• Hicks was a presidentially appointed commissioner for the National Commission on the Future of the Army. She is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the boards of advisors for the Truman National Security Project and SoldierStrong.

I propose expanding this text slightly to add mention of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy of the United States (per the same source), and updating content related to board positions. More specifically, I propose replacing the current text with the following:

• Hicks was a presidentially appointed commissioner for the National Commission on the Future of the Army. She was also appointed to the Commission on the National Defense Strategy of the United States. She is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served on the boards of The Aerospace Corporation and the U.S. Naval Institute, as well as the boards of advisors for the Truman National Security Project and SoldierStrong.

References

The proposed text adds mention of board roles for other notable organizations, and changes the tense since she is not currently on the Truman National Security Project and SoldierStrong boards. Again, I don't think this is a controversial edit, but I invite others to review and update her entry for me if they agree it makes the article better. WWB Too (Talk · COI) 16:20, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

I completed this update. TJMSmith (talk) 01:29, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

@TJMSmith: Thanks for your help! I have one more request for this paragraph below, if you are interested. WWB Too (Talk · COI) 02:05, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Department of Defense agency review team

With the above request answered and implemented, I'd like to offer one more suggestion for this paragraph. Currently the article says: In October 2020, she also served on the CSIS-LSHTM High-Level Panel on Vaccine Confidence and Misinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, co-chaired by Heidi Larson and J. Stephen Morrison.

I would argue this is a less notable aspect of her career, and the claim is not based on secondary coverage. I propose removing and replacing this sentence with the following, which mentions her leading the Department of Defense agency review team:

• In 2020, Hicks led the Department of Defense agency review team, tasked with reviewing issues related to defense and national security during the presidential transition of Joe Biden.

References

Again, you can see these changes reflect in the draft I've shared at User:WWB Too/Kathleen Hicks. If this seems like a reasonable improvement I would appreciate someone making the update on my behalf. Cheers, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 02:05, 14 May 2024 (UTC)

Done. TJMSmith (talk) 19:50, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

Suggestion for U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense section

User:TJMSmith, thanks for your help improving the first part of the Career section. I'd like to shift focus to the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense subsection, which could be updated with some of her more recent work in this role. The following text, currently a single-sentence paragraph, is not representative of sourcing:

Hicks was tasked with leading the modernization of the U.S.' nuclear triad.

References

While modernization was one of her areas of concern during the confirmation hearings, this sentence is not specifically confirmed in sources. As seen in my draft, I'd like to propose replacing this sentence with the following two paragraphs, which are based on Wikipedia-appropriate sources:

Hicks has led initiatives that attempt to shorten technology adoption timelines and speed fielding of new defense capabilities. She led Replicator, an initiative initially focused on fielding autonomous systems to help counter China's military. She oversees the military's first commercial space integration strategy, as well as several of the Pentagon's largest missile defense and long-range strike programs. She is also in charge of the military's efforts related to climate change.

Hicks established the Deputy's Workforce Council in the Defense Department to address workforce challenges such as extremism and a lack of diversity. She has also focused on efforts to take care of service members and their families, including countering sexual assault and harassment and preventing suicide.

References

You'll notice I've kept the two Paul McCleary sources as citations, but I've made the text more accurate and expanded on some of her other documented work. If this seems like a reasonable expansion, I'd appreciate someone making the update on my behalf; for anyone new to this discussion page, I have a financial COI with DepSecDef Hicks and will aim to avoid editing the page directly. Cheers, WWB Too (Talk · COI) 16:45, 21 May 2024 (UTC)