PERSPECTIVE: EXTREMISM IN THE RANKSThe Military Is Making Progress in Its Counter-Extremism Efforts, but Gaps Remain
DOD released its report on countering extremist activity in the ranks. Andrew Mines writes that the report is timely, as data from research by different organizations provide multiple metrics that show a relatively small but growing problem of extremism in the military. “Today, the U.S. faces an extremist threat that is increasingly mainstream and harder to counter with traditional prevention tools. The federal government is already undergoing a sea change in its own approach, and the military has shown that it isn’t shying away from the problem either,” he writes.
The Department of Defense released its Report on Countering Extremist Activity Within the Department of Defense in December 2021. The report is the product of a months-long effort by the Countering Extremist Activity Working Group (CEAWG), which was commissioned last April in the wake of a department-wide stand down following the Jan. 6 siege at the Capitol.
Andrew Mines writes in Lawfare that the report is timely. Recent data released by START at the University of Maryland, the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, the Center for Strategic & International Studies, the Department of Defense, Military Times and other organizations provide multiple metrics that show a relatively small but growing problem of extremism in the military. “To be sure, the vast majority of service members and veterans vehemently condemn extremist behavior and ideology,” he writes. “But despite a number of significant and positive advancements reflected in the report, gaps remain in the broader effort within the military to fully tackle this problem.”
· The first gap has to do with when counter-extremism policies kick in. For the most part, the changes underway at the Defense Department tend to fall in the realm of secondary prevention, or practices that aim to detect and reduce the impact of extremist activity once it has occurred. But there is an entire class of primary prevention practices that remain largely untapped.These are tools like media literacy and civic education that aim to prevent extremist activity before it occurs. A growing body of empirical evidencefrom research centers such as New America and American University’s PERIL supports the use of these approaches.
· The second gap concerns who these policies reach: Right now, it’s almost exclusively current service members. But Veterans make up the vast majority(more than 90 percent) of federally charged Jan. 6 rioters with military experience, many of whom had been separated for more than a decade prior to the riot. According to another START study, 84 percent of the 458 U.S. extremists with some military experience over the past three decades were no longer serving when they were arrested for extremist crimes. “While the vast majority of veterans do not engage in extremist activities and abhor the conduct of those who do, it is clear that any effort to fully address extremism in the military cannot ignore veterans.? Mines writes.
He concludes”
Today, the U.S. faces an extremist threat that is increasingly mainstream and harder to counter with traditional prevention tools. The federal government is already undergoing a sea change in its own approach, and the military has shown that it isn’t shying away from the problem either.
Some of the greatest advancements in the nation’s history have been the result of innovation from the military. The Defense Department and the veteran community have a unique combination of culture and legitimacy to lead when it comes to countering extremism, too. With support from government, policy, research, and other sectors, it is this ethos that should drive efforts going forward.