(Washington Insider Magazine)— The Department of Defense (DoD) has finally issued an investigation into extremism in the Military, more than a year after it was concluded. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin authorized the report in April 2021 as one of four “immediate actions” documented in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Dozens of current and former associates of the military have since been tasked with Jan. 6-related crimes.
Earlier this year, a USA TODAY investigation discovered the military had slight improvement to show in its measures to combat extremism and that many essential ambitions appeared to be delayed or incomplete.
One such action was the “Study on Extremist Activity within the Total Force.” The study had been conducted by the Institute for Defense Analyses back in June 2022. USA TODAY was first notified, but it was never revealed.
On Tuesday, in reaction to continued requests to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, that report was given to USA TODAY for the first time.
Its 262 pages will be subject to additional expert examination and review. However, the report shows some quick insight into what the analysis did – and did not – find. The report presents spare new information on extremism in the military.
Experts on extremism have been waiting for this report, expecting it will shed new light on how bad the military’s extremism concern is. The report’s primary emphasis was to gain “greater fidelity on the scope of the problem,” according to Austin’s April 2021 note.
“I just want the right data—small, big, minute, whatever—so that we can address the problem,” Co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, Heidi Beirich, briefed USA TODAY earlier this year. “
However, the report seems to offer almost nothing regarding new information on the scope of the military’s extremism problem. Instead, it contrasts existing data from sources, including the military’s Inspector General.
The report’s authors also researched court-martial judgments to explore data on extremists — discovering ten such cases. But they recognized court martials only represent a tiny fraction of extremists—because most cases don’t end in a court martial.
“Nearly all of these cases were addressed through administrative action, non-judicial punishment, or referral to command for appropriate action,” the report notices.
Researchers from the Institute for Defense Analyses have yet to respond to requests for remarks on Tuesday. The report figures that extremism in the military is rare but dangerous.
“The participation in violent extremist activities of even a small number of individuals with military connections and military training,” it notes, “could present a risk to the military and the country as a whole.”
The researchers utilized publicly available data on extremism, including the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) database upheld by the “National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.”
The DoD report produces the same conclusion “National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism” researchers have made: “Participation rates for former service members appear to be growing,” it says.
The report says the military’s process for granting security clearances to military and civilian personnel is obsolete and ineffective.
“DOD’s processes for awarding security clearances, assessing suitability, and granting access to facilities still focus to a significant extent on Cold War threats and threats related to the Global War on Terrorism rather than the threat of home-grown extremism.”
The researchers advised updating and standardizing security and suitability inquiries across the military to question directly about banned extremist activities.
Military security authorizations have been much debated this year after Air National Guardsman Jack Teixiera was apprehended and charged with publishing hundreds of classified papers on a Discord server.
In addition to Teixeira, three active-duty Marines were arrested for their apparent role in the insurrection on January 06. All three Marines operated in intelligence. One was allocated to the National Security Agency headquarters.
Without revising the security clearance procedure, “the Department remains at risk of unknowingly permitting persons who may have engaged in violent extremist conduct to enter and encumber privileged positions as civilian employees or contractors in the military community,” the report finalizes.
