DOD Releases Report on Countering Extremist Activities

Here is the report’s Executive Summary

Executive Summary
This report outlines ongoing work by the Department of Defense to address the threat posed by prohibited extremist activities. The Department of Defense has long prohibited Service members from actively engaging in extremist activities. Since 1969, the Department of Defense has provided policy guidance that enumerates the prohibition of specific activities, and has routinely updated its guidance to clarify prohibited activities, clarify the investigative authorities that commanders have at their disposal, and ensure that all military departments implement training on these policies.

Following a number of high-profile insider threat attacks in the early 2010s, the Department of Defense built a program to detect, deter, and mitigate such threats to the Department, its people, and its mission. In 2019, Congress directed the Department of Defense to review existing policies and capabilities with the aim of closing gaps in personnel security vetting. In 2020, the Army published a comprehensive revision of Army Command Policy (AR 600-20) which was the first of its kind to address the use of social media to support extremist activities and provided guidance to commanders for addressing prohibited activity that crosses the line into misconduct.

In February 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III directed a Department-wide stand down to educate Department of Defense personnel on the threat posed by extremist activity. In April 2021, following the stand down, Secretary Austin issued a second memorandum to implement immediate actions identified by subject-matter experts within the Department of Defense (and informed by the stand down), and directed the establishment of the Countering Extremist Activity Working Group (CEAWG) to implement these urgent steps and develop additional recommendations.

This report provides background on the work completed by the Department. It also details the implementation status of the Secretary’s four directed actions from April and describes the six additional recommendations and associated actions developed by the CEAWG. With the publication of this report, the Secretary of Defense has directed the implementation of the six CEAWG recommendations and associated actions.

The immediate actions were:

·  Review and update DoD Instruction 1325.06, “Handling Protest, Extremist, and Criminal Gang Activities Among Members of the Armed Forces,” to clarify the definition of prohibited extremist activity

·  Update the Service member transition checklist

·  Review and standardize screening questionnaires

·  Commission a study on extremist activity in the Total Force.

The six additional CEAWG recommendations fall within the following lines of effort: Military Justice and Policy, Support and Oversight of the Insider Threat Program, Investigative Processes and Screening Capability, and Education and Training. Key recommendations include:

·  Developing a comprehensive training and education plan that provides regular training on prohibited extremist activity to Department of Defense personnel, including those advancing to leadership positions.

·  Reviewing and updating policies to provide notice to the Total Force and Department of Defense contractor personnel on prohibited extremist activity.

·  Improving and modernizing Insider Threat programs by enhancing capabilities, maximizing information sharing, and ensuring a consistent and full understanding of any legal requirements.

— Secretary of Defense Memorandum on Countering Extremist Activities within the Department of Defense can be found here.

— The Report on Countering Extremist Activity Within the Department of Defense can be found here.

— The Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 1325.06: Handling Protest, Extremist, and Criminal Gang Activities Among Members of the Armed Forces can be found here.