Minister of Defence Lloyd Austin
Lloyd Austin Night Defense: Pentagon Chief Expels Hundreds from Advisory Panels | Defense Choice Discusses Trump’s Transitional Barriers | Aircraft carrier returns home after 10 months of deployment Aircraft carrier returns home after 10 months of deployment surveillance Iran Defense secretary removes hundreds of advisory board members in sweeping assessment MORE Wednesday ordered a US military-wide “stand-down” to address extremism in the ranks, an issue that has long puzzled Pentagon leaders but came to the fore after the January 6 violation at the Capitol.
The Department of Defense still has scant details on Austin’s decision, which came after meeting with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley
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Kirby added that more details are to be found and that leadership still needs to provide specific guidance on expectations for stepping down. He couldn’t say what Austin hopes to learn from the effort or his plans for afterward.
“One of the reasons the secretary wants to do this ex officio is to see the magnitude of the problem. … We don’t want to overestimate or underestimate the number of people it can affect, ”he said.
“It may be more than we feel comfortable hearing and admitting and probably much less than the media coverage around it seems to suggest it could be. But where is it? It’s just not clear, ”he added.
The move is a direct result of the events of January 6, when supporters were loyal to former President Trump
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This was discovered after the uprising almost 1 in 5 people accused in connection with the riot have some form of military background.
Austin, the country’s first Black Defense secretary, promised at his hearing that he would fight to “free our ranks from racists and extremists.” The Pentagon has, however little information about how deep the problem runs, making it difficult to take action.
It is unclear whether the Pentagon keeps track of how many of its service members have white nationalist or other extremist ideology or how many troops have been flagged or disciplined for extremist behavior.
Of the few data points available are those provided for 2020 by the FBI, which found that of the 143 investigative reports the Pentagon received from the bureau of former and current military members, 68 related to cases of domestic extremism.
Defense officials have struggled for years to understand the problem of military extremism, although the events of January 6 “brought this to a great relief, and it is very clear that it is something we have not resolved,” Kirby said.
Current Department of Defense policy expressly prohibits military personnel from actively advocating for or participating in supremacist, extremist or criminal gangs, ideologies or causes, including fundraising or demonstrations at a meeting as part of such groups, recruiting , training, organizing or directing members, or distributing material.
But Kirby said there is not yet a uniform understanding within the military about how extremism should be defined and whether it includes belonging to a racist or violent ideological group such as the Proud Boys – a relatively new organization – or whether it is also about believing in or spreading blatantly false conspiracy theories, such as those of QAnon supporters. Austin hopes the withdrawal will help the Pentagon find the answer.
“[Austin] is also frustrated that this is a problem and that we don’t have a better view and understanding of it, ”said Kirby.