Report on Countering Extremist Activity Within the Department of Defense

[JohnyMac]

As we have learned over the past several days, the head of the DOD, Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, is working on cleaning out the military of extremists. Attached is the full PDF plan and copy & paste here, the 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.

[grizz]

What do they consider "extremist activity"?

[JohnyMac]

If you read the whole thing, they will be looking at military folks social media accounts and making a decision based on that info. There is no clearly defined definition for a "extremist activity". I suspect anything and everything not to excuse a Trump for President bumper sticker.

[Nemo]

What do they consider "extremist activity"?

Asking any questions and not taking the blue pill.

Nemo