Hayley Fowler / The Charlotte Observer (TNS)
The U.S. Division of Protection has up to date its screening course of for brand new recruits to incorporate questions on membership in extremist organizations and any “questionable tattoos” which may recommend affiliation with these teams.
In a 21-page report detailing the Pentagon’s plan to root out extremism inside its ranks, the protection division spelled out efforts to make sure “solely the very best certified recruits are chosen for providers.” The report was spurred largely by the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol — which included some retired and active-duty service members.
Protection Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III mentioned the “overwhelming majority” serve with “honor and integrity.”
“We owe the women and men of the Division of Protection an atmosphere freed from extremist actions, and we owe our nation a navy that displays the founding values of our democracy,” he mentioned in a Dec. 20 information launch.
The report listed 4 motion gadgets accomplished by the Pentagon since April and an extra three suggestions shifting ahead. It features a broadened defination of extremist actions, which now accounts for social media and different on-line habits, in addition to higher coaching for service members leaving the navy who could also be recruited by supremacist organizations.
Whereas the protection division didn’t checklist particular organizations that might be thought of extremist, the company recognized six behaviors that represent “extremist actions” in addition to 14 examples of what constitutes “energetic participation” in these actions.
Knowingly displaying any kind of paraphernalia, phrases or symbols that assist extremism or teams which can be vocal proponents of extremist ideology is taken into account “energetic participation” below the brand new tips. In keeping with the Pentagon, that features “flags, clothes, tattoos and bumper stickers” on or off a navy set up.
Officers additionally took a more in-depth take a look at the screening course of for brand new recruits, citing “a number of tragic incidents involving folks with entry to Division of Protection installations.”
The report mentions shootings at Fort Hood in 2009 and the Washington Navy Yard in 2013, each of which had been carried out by present of former service members.
Protection division officers outlined new efforts to ferret out recruits with doubtlessly harmful extremist ideologies, beginning with updating screening questionnaires to incorporate particular questions on whether or not recruits have joined “racially biased entities and different extremist teams.”
The varieties will notify recruits that any involvement in prison gangs or extremist organizations is forbidden.
Recruiters and the Army Legal Investigative Organizations additionally now have entry to an FBI portal with “info on native gangs, white-supremacy and nationalist teams, gang indicators, and extremist symbols and tattoos,” the report states. Officers mentioned the portal will enable recruiters and investigators to higher assess “questionable tattoos and branding that recommend propensities to extremism and violence.”
If a recruit both attests to being a member of an extremist group or has a tattoo that’s been flagged by the FBI, senior management should concern what’s generally known as a “Morals Eligibility Willpower” that permits them to maneuver ahead within the software course of, the protection division mentioned.
Throughout a background briefing, a senior protection official outlined the screening course of for candidates, which features a recruiter interview, a take a look at their prison historical past or previous involvement with regulation enforcement, fingerprinting and an FBI identify examine.
“We take a look at that and the town, county, and state of residence on the time of enlistment,” the official mentioned. “We additionally search for any offensive, racist, supremacist tattoos, together with people who might replicate gang affiliation. Then we’ve a sturdy partnership with the FBI Cryptology and Racketeering Data Unit to have the ability to take a look at symbology as it could be evolving throughout america as a result of, once more, that’s one of many issues that we discovered is that this modifications so shortly and it may well differ rather a lot region-to-region, state-by-state.”
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