The Pentagon said on Wednesday it was still uncertain about how to deal with the problem of extremism in its ranks, and announced a military break to give troops and commanders a chance to focus on the issue.
Lloyd Austin, the first black secretary of defense to take over at the Pentagon recently, ordered that every branch of the military stand still for the next 60 days at some point to discuss the threat of white supremacy and similar extremism. Secretary John Kirby.
The January 6 riot at the Capitol, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the building and attacked police, was a wake-up call for the Department of Defense, Kirby said. Current and former members of the military have taken part in the siege, and the Pentagon is being scrutinized for pursuing recruits and pursuing extremism within the ranks.
Austin made the order Wednesday during a meeting of the leaders of each military service that, according to Kirby, the chairman of the joint chiefs, Genl. Mark Milley, and Vice President Genl. John Hyten includes.
“There was no one in the room who did not agree that there was no problem,” he said.
The order is aimed at enabling military leaders to make clear that white supremacy and other extremist ideology had no place in the military and to hear from troops how they view the problem, Kirby said.
Although the Pentagon has studied the issue over the years and issued prescriptions, the department does not yet have a full understanding of the problem, he said.
“We do not know how we can do this in a meaningful, productive and tangible way, and that is why he had this meeting today and that is why he definitely ordered this stand-down,” Kirby said. .
He added: “There may be cultural issues we have to deal with here.”
In the U.S. military, stand-downs are designed to draw the attention of the entire force to a serious problem or issue that requires each unit and each rank to interrupt their daily activities to discuss the problem.
The military had earlier announced stand-down orders to address other issues plaguing the power and to raise awareness among the ranks about suicide, sexual assault and racism. Commanders can decide when to plan the discussion over the 60 day period set out by the Secretary of Defense.
The Pentagon has not yet provided information on the extent of the problem, and neither the Department of Defense nor the FBI have released information on how many service members have been disciplined over the past few years over extremist links or how many potential recruits have an affinity for extremists show. groups.
Lawmakers at a hearing in the House a year ago expressed serious concern about the issue and urged the Pentagon to take more decisive action and to gather more information to address the issue.
California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier recently asked President Joe Biden in a letter to issue an executive order that would ensure that security exemptions for federal employees, and especially military troops, include a review of social media posts for any ties with white supremacists or similar violent extremists.
Speier, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, wrote that it was “inexcusable” that authorities did not investigate social media accounts when providing security records to military recruits or other federal employees “despite the collection and reporting of other intrusive, private data, such as financial and behavioral health information. ‘