Exclusive: Navy CNO On Rooting Out Extremists
"We have a responsibility to educate those that are leaving the service that they are going to be recruited by these people, and they need to be aware that they're going to have people reach out via email or social media" Adm. Mike Gilday says.
By Paul McLeary on February 05, 2021 at 2:19 PM
WASHINGTON: Following Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s order to military leaders to identify and confront hate groups operating within the ranks, the Navy’s top admiral says he’s focused on not only rooting out extremists, but finding ways to keep them from joining in the first place.
“We absolutely have to understand those within our ranks that are involved in those organized activities, as well as take further actions to stem the accession of people that belong to those kinds of groups,†he told Breaking Defense in his first comments on Austin’s new marching orders, which include a 60-day stand-down to discuss the issue across the services.
The issue of neo-Nazi, far-right and other racist hate groups working and recruiting inside the military has increasingly alarmed the Pentagon, backed by a Military Times poll last year in which one in three active-duty service members who responded reporting they have “personally witnessed examples of white nationalism or ideological-driven racism within the ranks in recent months,†an increase from the previous year’s survey.
https://breakingdefense.com/2021/02/exclusive-navy-cno-on-rooting-out-extremists/