https://sputnikglobe.com/20231227/pentagon-releases-internal-report-on-growing-extremist-beliefs-within-us-military-1115840168.html
Pentagon Releases Internal Report on 'Growing' Extremist Beliefs Within US Military
Pentagon Releases Internal Report on 'Growing' Extremist Beliefs Within US Military
Sputnik International
The report was first commissioned by the defense secretary following the January 6, 2021 insurrection on Capitol Hill.
2023-12-27T22:39+0000
2023-12-27T22:39+0000
2023-12-27T22:36+0000
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The US Department of Defense has finally released an internal report on extremism in the military, which has - unfortunately - left many questions unanswered.The report was first commissioned by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot; a separate report showed that more than 80 of those charged in crimes related to the attack had some tie to the US military, and many of those with a military background were veterans.The released report was first completed in June of 2022. But in its 262 pages, the report - obtained by US media - does little to shed light on extremism issues in the US military. Instead of offering new data, it gathered existing data from sources that included the military’s inspector general.The report also researched court-martial judgements for data on extremists and found 10 such cases. However, courts-martial only represent a small portion of extremists, the report said. The reason being that many cases of extremism don’t make it to court-martial, and are instead addressed through “administrative action, non-judicial punishment, or referral to command for appropriate action,” the report determined.The report found—through public data which included the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) database—that “participation rates for former service members appear to be growing.”The "Unite the Right" rally occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, with the COVID pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and the US presidential election occurred in 2020. A year later, the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill kicked off 2021.The report also found through PIRUS data that 28% of those who participated in extremism served in either the Army or the Marine Corps. While the Army is the largest branch, “the Marine Corps is the smallest," which "means that the Marine Corps has the largest per capita rate of participation in extremism cases,” the report wrote.The findings also determined the process for handing out security clearances to military personnel were outdated and insufficient. But the DOD doesn’t need data to know that their security clearance is outdated. This year, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman was arrested after sharing classified military information online. Despite being only 21, he was granted top-security clearance allowing him access to highly classified US government information.Amid the US military's ongoing difficulties with making recruiting goals, a watchdog previously determined that some recruiters were intentionally skipping portions of the onboarding screening process that flags any applicants tied to extremist groups or gangs. An inspector general finding from August found that in a sample of 224 applicants from 2021 to 2022, 41% of applicants weren't properly vetted.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20210204/pentagon-chief-orders-60-day-military-stand-down-to-address-extremism-in-us-armed-forces-1081977615.html
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Pentagon Releases Internal Report on 'Growing' Extremist Beliefs Within US Military
The report is part of just one of the “immediate actions” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he would take in the wake of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.
The US Department of Defense has finally
released an internal report on extremism in the military, which has - unfortunately - left many questions unanswered.
The report was first commissioned by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot; a separate
report showed that more than 80 of those charged in crimes related to the attack had some tie to the US military, and many of those with a military background were veterans.
The released
report was first completed in June of 2022.
But in its 262 pages, the report - obtained by US media - does little to shed light on extremism issues in the US military. Instead of offering new data, it gathered existing data from sources that included the military’s inspector general.
The report also researched court-martial judgements for data on extremists and found 10 such cases. However, courts-martial only represent a small portion of extremists, the report said. The reason being that many cases of extremism don’t make it to court-martial, and are instead addressed through “administrative action, non-judicial punishment, or referral to command for appropriate action,” the report determined.
The report found—through public data which included the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) database—that “participation rates for former service members appear to be growing.”
“The rate of military participation in violent extremist incidents, as tracked within PIRUS, has roughly quadrupled from the two decades before 2010 to the decade after 2010 (or more than doubled, if the events of 6 January 2020, are excluded),” the report added, explaining the years 2017, 2020, and 2021 were significant in mobilizing violent extremism.
The "Unite the Right" rally occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, with the COVID pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and the US presidential election occurred in 2020. A year later, the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill kicked off 2021.
4 February 2021, 10:44 GMT
The report also found through PIRUS data that 28% of those who participated in extremism served in either the Army or the Marine Corps. While the Army is the largest branch, “the Marine Corps is the smallest," which "means that the Marine Corps has the largest per capita rate of participation in extremism cases,” the report wrote.
The findings also determined the process for handing out security clearances to military personnel were outdated and insufficient.
“DOD’s processes for awarding security clearances, assessing suitability, and granting access to facilities still focus to a significant extent on Cold War threats and threats related to the Global War on Terrorism rather than the threat of home-grown extremism,” the report writes.
But the
DOD doesn’t need data to know that their security clearance is outdated. This year, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman was arrested after sharing classified military information online. Despite being only 21, he was granted top-security clearance allowing him access to highly classified US government information.
Amid the US military's ongoing difficulties with making recruiting goals, a watchdog previously determined that some recruiters were intentionally skipping portions of the onboarding screening process that flags any applicants tied to extremist groups or gangs. An inspector general finding from August found that in a sample of 224 applicants from 2021 to 2022, 41% of applicants weren't properly vetted.
