National security consultant for CBS Radio. Founder and CEO of Diamond6 Leadership and Strategy, LLC. How far-reaching is extremism in the United States military? GuestsĬol. Nearly 20% of people charged in connection with the Capitol attack have some sort of military background. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) This article is more than 1 year old. Capitol as the Inauguration of Joe Biden begins. Funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.National Guard troops carry riot shields as they assume positions in the vicinity of the U.S. This story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans.
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He's giving branch leaders discretion on how to organize the day, but said he wants commanders to solicit feedback from the troops about their own "concerns, experiences and possible solutions" to the problem. "We'll watch The Beverly Hillbillies or Petticoat Junction or Al Jazeera English or soccer matches, but we're not going to listen to that tripe."ĭefense Secretary Austin said the stand down is the "first initiative" in rooting out extremism. "I said, okay, I'll either turn them off, or I'll turn them on something else," he said. So Franken pulled the plug on the televisions. "It was this constant, all day long, talk radio TV." "He wasn't supportive of the troops, the troops shouldn't be in Africa, Africa was causing us problems, we needed to do more to go after Muslims" Franken said.
When he took command of a large contingent of troops across Africa and the Indian Ocean, Franken said Fox News was broadcast during meal time in the chow halls, and he noticed a "constant diatribe" against then-President Barack Obama. Senate in Iowa, said he became concerned about ideological messaging long before his retirement in 2017. And consequently when the body of people are preached a particular thought pattern - that others are trying to overturn the regular order of things - we have a tendency to jet out the jaw and step forward."įranken, who last year ran as a Democratic candidate for the U.S.
If the Commander-In-Chief says the election is stolen, people who servied in the military might be more inclined to listen. Retired Navy Vice Admiral Mike Franken said one reason so many military veterans participated in the insurrection might come down to personality. Even at a small scale, it can be really damaging." "It doesn't matter necessarily if it's this huge, prevalent problem. Writing for the military news website The War Horse, Chrisinger logged all the incidents he could find where a service member was charged or investigated in connection with white nationalist or ideologically-driven racism dating back to 2005.
"It seems like the root causes of some of the inaction was the failure to even admit that there was a problem." "If you don't measure it, then you don't manage it. "It's one of those classic policy problems," he said. That's up from 22 percent in 2018.īut the survey isn't scientific, nor conducted by the Defense Department.ĭavid Chrisinger, an author and writing instructor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, said nobody knows how big of a problem it is. By mid-April, commanders must spend one day discussing the issue of extremism with soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.Ĭoncerns about extremism in the military stretch back decades, but it's not clear how significant the problem is.Ī Military Times survey found more 36 percent of active-duty troops say they have personally witnessed examples of white nationalism or ideological-driven racism in recent months. "This is something I think we have to be active on, and we can lean into it and make sure that we're doing the right things to create the right climate."Īustin soon ordered a military-wide stand down. "This is not something we can be passive on," the retired Army general told senators. President Biden's Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, promised action at his Senate confirmation. Veterans make up about 7 percent of the population at large. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C.Ī mid-February NPR analysis found that about 14 percent of the people charged in connection with storming the U.S. In December, then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller directed a review of military policies related to "extremist or hate group activity."
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