My guess is that it was in the works before the election. Just wasn't a high priority in the early days of the Bao-dan administration to stop it.

Let's apply logic here. Read the press release. A press release would normally highlight the reasons this person earned a promotion. Like this, second paragraph https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2021/01/26/lt-gen-charles-flynn-slated-to-command-us-army-pacific-and-14-other-promotions/ It does not say he was promoted because he is a white man.

Contrast this with Commander Wijnaldum's announcement above. What is her qualifier? She is a woman of color. It is stated because it is the primary qualifier. If she has bigger and better qualifications, why aren't they stated instead?