Military must do more to weed out extremists

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When a closet extremist named Brandon Russell joined the Florida Army National Guard in 2016, examiners took word of an odd tattoo on his proper shoulder.

It seemed like a radiation-warning symbol, however apparently did not increase issues. It ought to have. It was the logo for a violent neo-Nazi group Russell had based. “I was 100% open about everything with the friends I made at training,” Russell later boasted on-line in regards to the acceptance of his views amongst different troops. “They know all about it. They love me too cause I’m a funny guy.”

Extremism within the navy is hardly a laughing matter, and proof is mounting that it is gone time for the Pentagon to take it significantly.

“The military has a growing problem with white supremacy and extremism because our country does,” Lecia Brooks, chief of employees for the Southern Poverty Law Center, instructed lawmakers final week.

About each third service member surveyed instructed the Military Times in 2019 that they noticed proof of white supremacist and racist ideologies within the service, up from 1 in 5 in 2018.

Russell was sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 for having explosives materials. A 22-year-old soldier was charged final yr with plotting together with his neo-Nazi group to ambush his personal Army unit. An Air Force sergeant linked to the boogaloo extremist movement was accused final yr of murdering a federal safety agent. In June, three males additionally linked to the boogaloo motion — an Army reservist and Navy and Air Force veterans — had been charged with plotting to attack protesters in Las Vegas.

And most not too long ago, a USA TODAY evaluation of these arrested in reference to the insurrectional riot that led to the sacking of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 discovered that 34 had been former or present navy members. One was a Marine Corps veteran who had served as a crew chief on a presidential helicopter squadron.

To make certain, there is no proof extremists are disproportionately represented amongst America’s more than 2 million active-duty and part-time troops. The navy, in any case, is barely a mirrored image of the society from which it attracts volunteers.

But troopers, sailors and others are additionally a choose group. While recruitment targets are all the time a problem, nobody can serve until they meet particular well being and psychological standards. There must be screening for extremism.

A begin was Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s determination early final month requiring commanders to take one day to talk about extremism with troops.

But the Pentagon wants to do loads more.

The navy says it is already transferring towards accessing an FBI library on tattoos in order that they acknowledge a neo-Nazi image after they see one. (All recruits are completely examined throughout medical opinions.) The Pentagon can be working with the University of Maryland to discover private-sector merchandise that may evaluation, at scale, exercise by recruits on social media. A Defense Department evaluation final yr known as social media “the loudest indicator of white supremacy/white nationalism involvement.” Congress intends to add to the Uniform Code of Military Justice a regulation in opposition to violent extremism. (The identical proposal was pulled from this yr’s Defense invoice by the Trump administration.) This new regulation will assist observe the quantity of situations the place service members are discharged for such conduct, one thing the navy can not now say.

The Pentagon wants to be clear with these modifications, displaying when and the way they’re being carried out to reassure Americans the issue is getting mounted. A brand new inspector normal place this yr to monitor extremism ought to make this doable.

But there stay essential gaps. What a few soldier who turns into radicalized after coming into the service?

As California Rep. Jackie Speier argued in a letter to President Joe Biden, no matter vigilance is designed for screening recruits has to be used for these already within the ranks. At least one checkpoint would, and that is when troops search safety clearances for sure job assignments. Certainly a evaluation of social media habits — candidates could be required to give up on-line handles and web sites visited — could be essential, notably contemplating how a lot extremist ideology is on-line.

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