The Pentagon published a new anti-extremism policy on Dec. 20, expanding the definition of extremist activity to include online activity, which includes posting, sharing or even liking anti-government or racially-motivated content.
A working group convened in April was tasked with creating a new definition, updating a years-old “prohibited activities” instruction, as well as provide ideas for better studying extremism in the force, better screening recruits and better preparing transitioning troops for the possibility of recruitment by extremist groups after they’re out of uniform.
“We wanted to push forward with the same standard that we had in our previous iterations of this policy, which is that active participation,” an official told reporters Dec. 20. “So it was really important to us that we preserve First Amendment rights to the extent that we could, and that we focus on an individual’s actions, regardless of whether they did that on their own or as part of an organization.”
A memo from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin included plans for further training and education for service members, especially those transitioning back to civilian life, as well as new screening protocols for recruits.
RELATED
The services fielded hundreds of reports of extremism in the first nine months of this year.
The Defense Department inspector general in December released a report that pulled data from all of the services, in what is one of the few master lists of allegations, investigations and adjudications available on the issue.
The report found dozens of allegations of both racially-motivated and anti-government extremism among all of the services. The Marine Corps, in particular, had a disproportionately high number of anti-government cases ― 25 ― compared to the Army’s 30, though the Army is roughly five times the Marine Corps’ size.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members. Follow on Twitter @Meghann_MT
Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of May 23, 2022.
A group of international defense chiefs convened by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to coordinate military aid for Ukraine is likely to be larger when it meets for the second time on Monday.
The U.S. military commands responsible for North America misused at least $19 million in COVID-19 relief money on space-related data analytics connected to the Pentagon’s JADC2 endeavor, as well as office information technology upgrades, investigators said.
It is one of several critical technologies that Heidi Shyu, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, included in remarks at SOFIC.
The U.S. is sending Ukraine another $100 million in military assistance, including heavy artillery and counter-artillery radars, the Biden administration announced Thursday.
U.S. President Joe Biden said cooperation between the U.S. and South Korea shows “our readiness to take on all threats together.”
Stop requiring commissaries to make a profit, lawmakers say.
During its last deployment, which concluded in October, the Reagan not only operated in U.S. 7th Fleet but also 5th Fleet to support the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan.
The Army says its new master human resources platform is on track for full implementation Sept. 30.
Participating museums are offering free admission to military families from May 21 through Sept. 5.
Space Force officials want to move away from the traditional Guard and Reserve. These colonels say that's a bad idea.
The teams use focus groups and on-the-ground interviews to dig deeper than traditional climate surveys.
Wesley Goode died earlier this month in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Putin charged that “an outright aggression has been unleashed against Russia, a war has been waged in the information space.”
Cmdr. Brett Johnson has been temporarily reassigned to the staff of Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Atlantic.
Load More