The Far Right in Uniform, How Bad is the Military's Problem With Extremism?

[ShazamIam]

The article has many paragraphs of introduction and background before it discusses more details about the problem in our military organizations.

My copy/past is from many paragraphs down. It is a very long article.



The link between extremist culture and the military

A week after the Capitol invasion, 14 Democratic senators wrote a letter calling on the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate "white supremacy" and "extremism in the military." The next month, a House subcommittee held a hearing under the rubric "Alarming Incidents of White Supremacy in the Military — How to Stop It?" Meanwhile, on Feb. 5, the first Black secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, directed commanding officers at all levels to conduct a one-day stand-down before April 1 to address extremism in the military and provide training in avoiding involvement with extremist groups. At the same time, the Pentagon admitted that it didn't have a handle on the scope of the problem or what to do about it.

The link between extremist culture and the military goes way back, as do efforts to track and deal with it. The names of the groups have changed over the years — they used to sound German, now they sound moralistic — but the problem hasn't. For instance, in 2009, Operation Vigilant Eagle, an FBI program focused on the recruitment of veterans by white supremacist groups, came to light, and that same year a Department of Homeland Security assessment warned that "right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans" — returning, that is, from America's distant, never-ending wars. Conservative politicians, media personalities and veterans' groups found that DHS report insulting to veterans and got it withdrawn.

Keep in mind that active-duty service members are officially restricted in their political activities, so there were undoubtedly many still in uniform who didn't show up at the Capitol but would have liked to do so. And though the Proud Boys have focused their recruiting on the military and law enforcement, it's hardly necessary to join such loosely structured groups to support their ideology and aims. A 2019 Military Times survey, for example, found that 36% of military respondents had "witnessed examples of white supremacy and racist ideologies" in the ranks.

https://www.salon.com/2021/04/10/the-far-right-in-uniform-how-bad-is-the-militarys-problem-with-extremism_partner/

[brewens]

1. That 36% that claimed to have witnessed white supremacy and racism are the troops that are

willing to say so. There would probably be an equal number that know all about it and want to keep it secret.

[ShazamIam]

4. That is probably true this would be an underreported issue. nt

[Thomas Hurt]

2. I would imagine the military is littered with christofascists and at a higher proportion...

than the general citizenry. It is not a stretch to say that the military draws these type of people and the evangelical right has been targeting the military for decades.

Not to mention the US has been headed down a path to christian theocracy since Reagan.

The threat of fascism here is far from over just because we got rid of the Pig.

[ShazamIam]

5. The Airforce Academy in particular has had a problem with the Christofascists, there have been a few

news hitting scandals about it over the years one I think during Obama's firsts term. Here is an article from 2005

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4676698

This one is from 2012

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/debate-reignites-over-religion-at-air-force-academy/2012/07/16/gJQAvB0PpW_story.html

[Missn-Hitch]

7. Hear, hear!! Cotton will take it from here.

[nakocal]

3. Fox news is on 24x7

at a lot of military bases, radicalizing people. If they are serious about fighting extremism, Fox news has to be banned from all work areas.

[ShazamIam]

6. I didn't know that Fox was being served to the military, seems contradictory to the traditional

no partisan politics allowed in the military.

[Martin68]

8. Those attracted to a military career often tend towards an authoritarian viewpoint.

The same is true of cops. They are taught to obey without question, and are then obeyed without question as they rise through the ranks. I knew military fathers who ran their family as a "tight ship" and who would get very angry if they were not obeyed by their wife and their children without question.

[pfitz59]

9. Many left-leaning military folk are afraid to express their views

because many of the 'career, senior-leadership' types are Christo-Fascist, 'God's Army types'. I was on a ship during the 2000 Bush v. Gore debacle. I was one of the few senior officers supporting Gore (though required by law to be apolitical, the protracted recount in 2000 brought out otherwise hidden opinions). More Liberal military folk tend to leave the service, while Conservative types make it a career. I was the 'odd-man-out' throughout my 20 years. I was aware of many racial and sexist incidents. Did what I could to prevent and educate. I've been out over 20 years, so unaware of the current climate. After 4 years of Trumpism can't be good.