Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered a service-wide “resignation” for the next 60 days to allow military leaders to address extremism in the ranks – after the Pentagon discovered to its surprise that those involved included veterans and active duty members. in the storming the Capitol in January.
Under the resignation, service members would have a break from their normal activity, so “every service, command, and unit can take time to have these necessary discussions with the men and women of the force,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. told reporters Wednesday.
The 60-day period would allow commanders to plan events based on the rhythm of their operations, but it is not entirely clear what form this withdrawal will take.
The January 6 events were “a wake-up call” for the Pentagon and for Austin, the country’s first black defense secretary, Kirby said, adding that the turmoil in the Capitol “certainly had an electrical effect here at the time. Department of Defense in terms of the idea that anyone who is on active duty – let alone in the veteran community – can only be involved in active duty. ”
Austin issued the warrant on Wednesday morning at a meeting with all of the service secretaries and chiefs of service. Military leaders said the lack of a concrete definition of extremism often makes it challenging to exterminate from among the troops. According to Kirby, they also said that there is no unified policy for the surveillance of social media accounts of service members, because of problems with the First Amendment. Both issues will likely be discussed during the resignation to find further solutions.
This guideline follows another Austin memo last month ordering senior leaders to report back to him on the issue of sexual assault. They face a Friday deadline to summarize the prevention and accountability measures they have taken in the past year.