US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is ordering US military leaders to spend time talking to their troops about extremism in the ranks, after a number of former and current military members were allegedly among those who stormed the US Capitol last month.
Chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that Austin met with all of the military service chiefs and secretaries on Wednesday and told them he was ordering a “stand down” by all units in the next 60 days.
Kirby said that they are still working out details, but Austin is determined to address the issue and is gathering more information about how best to take it on.
While extremism has been a problem in the military in the past, the Jan. 6 incident at the Capitol, which left five people dead, was a “wake-up call” for military leaders, Kirby said.
Austin wants to get a better handle on the breadth of the problem, Kirby said.
US President Joe Biden declared domestic extremism an urgent national security threat in the wake of the incident.
The US National Guard deployed about 26,000 troops to Washington to help secure Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, and is keeping 5,000 to 7,000 troops in the city until the middle of next month at the request of federal law enforcement agencies.
The US Department of Homeland Security has issued a terrorism bulletin warning about possible additional violence.
At the same time, a dozen members of the National Guard were either sent home or not allowed to deploy to Washington because the FBI flagged a problem, including potential ties to extremist groups.
While speaking to service leaders, Austin “noted that even though the numbers may be small, they may not be as small as we would like them to be or that we believe them to be,” Kirby said.
Part of the problem is defining extremism, he said.
Service members may hold whatever political or other beliefs they want, but they are held to much stricter standards on actions they are allowed to take.
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