Army still grapples with racism and extremism, survey finds

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In February, with images of the violent insurgency in Washington still fresh in the minds of Americans, new Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made the unprecedented decision to sign a memo directing Army commanders to ” institute a one-day suspension to fight extremism within the country’s armed forces.

The pullout came in response to the involvement and subsequent arrests of several veterans and at least one active duty member, who, along with thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump on Jan.6, took to stormed the United States Capitol in a melee that sent lawmakers scrambling for safety, left one person shot dead by Capitol Police, and caused millions of dollars in damage to the building widely seen as the symbol of American democracy.

Austin’s order, which also came as America as a whole struggled to combat systemic racism, was the latest in a series of decades-long efforts by the military to purge its ranks of extremists and white supremacists. Last week, in response to the order, the military released new rules to counter extremism that included policy updates to use of social media where to ‘like’ and repost white nationalist content. and extremist could result in disciplinary action. The DOD has also updated its recruit screening and is examining how to prepare retreating troops to avoid being targeted by extremist organizations.

READ MORE: Pentagon issues rules to stop rise of extremism

But a PA investigation found that despite the new rules, racism and extremism remain a constant concern in the military.

The investigation shows that the new guidelines fail to address current disparities in military justice under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the legal code that governs the United States armed forces. Numerous studies, including a report from the Government Accountability Office last year, show that black and Hispanic military personnel have been disproportionately investigated and court martialed. A recent Naval Postgraduate School study found that Black Marines were convicted and punished by courts martial at a rate five times the rate of other races in the Marine Corps.

The AP investigation also shows that the military justice system does not have an explicit category for hate crimes – something the federal government, 46 states, and the District of Columbia have on the books – which makes it difficult. quantifying bias-motivated crimes.

As a result, investigative agencies such as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service or the Army Criminal Investigative Division also do not have a specific hate crime category, which affects how they investigate cases.

“While it is possible that hate crimes have taken place, our investigations are not titled as such,” NCIS said in an email. “For example, an assault on a person, regardless of the reason for the assault, would always be classified as an assault… regardless of what motivated the crime.

The new National Defense Authorization Act promulgated by President Biden on Monday directs the Defense Secretary to make a recommendation to Congress within 180 days if a new law is needed to combat violent extremism, but does not address not hate crimes or racial disparities in the military. law.

The new Pentagon rules do not outright prohibit the military from being members of extremist organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Oath Keepers, or other right-wing and white nationalist groups. Regulations, like previous ones, only prohibit “active participation” in such groups, a murky policy about which civil rights organizations have worried for years. The military describes active participation as “public demonstration or assembly, fundraising, recruiting and training of members,” as well as organizing or leading organizations.

Experts interviewed by the PA say the military commander’s ability to take a wide range of administrative and disciplinary measures – including administrative separation or appropriate criminal action – is also of concern against military personnel who engage in prohibited activities .

Commanders are essentially free to determine how to handle situations as they arise, which experts say has created a non-uniform and dispersed application, with some commanders establishing an approach of non-tolerance and non-tolerance. others using weak rule enforcement.

The PA investigation also found that although the Defense Ministry says it considers racism and extremism in the military to be a “security issue,” it does not have funding. dedicated which specifically supports efforts to counter extremism. Instead, military officials said the Pentagon was using personnel screening programs, training and education programs, as well as the Insider Threat program to “positively contribute to the fight against extremism within. strength”.

The Pentagon did not respond to questions about how much money it has spent or budgeted for efforts solely related to diversity and inclusion, and the number of employees dedicated to them.

Pentagon spokesman Major César Santiago acknowledged in a statement to the PA that extremism and extremist ideology can have a disproportionate effect on military force.

But he added, “The vast majority of women and men in uniform serve their nation with honor and integrity. He said since taking office in January, Secretary Lloyd Austin, the first African American to serve as Secretary of Defense, had taken immediate action to counter extremism. In addition to the new guidelines on extremism, the Defense Ministry appointed in April an Acting Deputy Inspector General for Diversity and Inclusion and Military Insider Threats.

WATCH: Exploring Hate: An Overview of Anti-Extremism Training in the Military

Susan Corke, director of the intelligence project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, praised the Defense Department for taking key steps this year, including the changes announced last week, to counter extremism. She said the Defense Ministry has sought the expertise of civil rights organizations, academics and others who have sounded the alarm bells about the dangers of extremism in the ranks for years.

But Corke said it was too early to say definitively whether the updated policies would eliminate extremism from the military ranks.

“The devil will be in the details,” she said. “I understand the Defense Ministry is committing to having a lot more consultation with outside partners and focusing a lot more on doing additional research. So we’re going to keep their feet on the fire.

Corke said the SPLC was still pushing for further reforms, including how the army’s command structure allows commanders to have virtually absolute command authority over their subordinates, which could discourage members of the army. report incidents or concerns of extremism.

Even some servicemen agree that the armed forces need to do more. “There has to be a change in actions and behaviors – things that cannot be so easily swayed by a change in military law,” said Major Tyrone Collier, Marine Corps Reserve Judge Advocate , in an interview with the AP. .

“Even if a law is passed by the highest echelons of government that says you will do this and that, will it actually be implemented? Collier said.

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