Posted on 02/03/2021 4:30:45 PM PST by RoosterRedux
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered a DOD-wide stand down to discuss the problem of extremism in the ranks, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said today. Austin and Army Gen. Mark A, Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with service civilian leaders and service chiefs to discuss the problem of extremism. Kirby noted that some of the extremists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 were active duty service members and others were military veterans.
Kirby was quick to say that "the vast majority of men and women who serve in uniform and the military are doing so with honor, integrity and character, and do not espouse the sorts of beliefs that lead to the kind of conduct that can be so detrimental to good order and discipline and in fact is criminal."
Still, Austin said in the meeting with military leaders that while the numbers may be small, they are not as small as anyone would like. "No matter what it is, it is … not an insignificant problem and has to be addressed," Kirby said during a press gaggle in the Pentagon.
The stand down will occur over the next 60 days, Kirby said. This is so "each service, each command and each unit can take the time out to have these needed discussions with the men and women of the force," he said.
There is much that needs to be hammered out including the details of the training that will go along with the stand down and what the secretary and all in the military want to accomplish. The stand down is similar to safety stand downs that units may have, Kirby said.
Austin called extremism in the ranks a leadership issue, and "it's got to be a leadership issue down to the lowest levels, small unit leadership all the way up to him," Kirby said. "So if you consider it a leadership issue, then maybe there will be some potential solutions there to allow us greater visibility."
This is a thorny problem, one that has raised its head in the past. There is a DOD Instruction aimed at this very problem — DODI 1325.06 "Handling Dissident and Protest Activities Among Members of the Armed Forces."
The DOD Instruction expressly prohibits military personnel from actively advocating for and participating in supremacist, extremist or criminal gang doctrine, ideology or causes, Kirby said.
There are questions that need to be answered, like what constitutes extremist activity? What is permissible in looking for extremists in the ranks?
In the meeting today, Austin made it clear that he is still mulling over how he wants to organize the effort to attack the problem from an institutional perspective, the press secretary said.
The secretary may establish a task force to get after the problem or perhaps another way. "He hasn't ruled anything in or out," Kirby said.
If the Biden admin orders an illegal order, the ranks understand that THEY will go to go to jail, not the Biden admin people, and not many are willing to go to jail for Biden.
Kirby was quick to say that “the vast majority of men and women who serve in uniform and the military are doing so with honor, integrity and character, and do not espouse the sorts of beliefs that lead to the kind of conduct that can be so detrimental to good order and discipline and in fact is criminal.”
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and what ‘sorts of beliefs’ might those be ???
Was it ‘criminal’ for members of the military to vote for President Trump ???
Is it ‘criminal’ to ‘believe’ that the election was stolen ???
Is it ‘criminal’ to believe that the guy in the role of Commander-in-Chief of the United States military could very well not be entitled to command them at all ???
What kind of beliefs ???
Which private thoughts that a free American citizen might be thinking are now ‘criminal’ ???
Christian ? Conservative ? Republican ?
How Does he know how any individual soldier or Marine thinks (voted) ???
I think you are spot on.
It is only a matter of time that almost anything said or written by conservatives on college campuses will be labelled as hate speech and cause for explusion.
Why would anyone want to serve in this military, with what is going on?
You can be sent to die in NeoCon war not protecting our nation,
discharged for offending a snowflake,
discharged for not letting fruits feel good about their being fruit,
or not being an indoctrinated leftist.
Those of us who, served can honestly tell our GK’s and grand nephews/nieces, be smart and don’t volunteer to join.
If they reinstate the draft, smoke some weed during your interview and physical.
Syria?
True, but it *is* the Post-Trump military.
The only noteworthy item in this DOD news release is that Milley is not quoted. Only Bitem’s lackeys are.
Gen. James.
The military does not take an oath to Bitem or any other person, including Trump. The oath is to the Constitution.
This particularly applies to General Milley. Thence, to the Joint Chiefs. Thence to the generals under them.... and so on down to the Professional soldiers.
That should be the end of it, right?
Nope, I bet they purge more than that.
I know.
I was being a smartass saying he looked like Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Seven months before Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F. Kennedy, he took his Mannlicher-Carcano rifle to Major General Edwin Walker‘s house, stood by the fence, aimed towards the window, and shot at him.
Walker was a stark anti-communist voice and an increasingly strident critic of the Kennedy’s, whose strong political stances had him pushed out of the army in 1961. In an excerpt, published at the Daily Beast, from a new book, Dallas 1963, Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis tell the story of how Walker found himself in the sights of Lee Harvey Oswald.
I'm not seeing it falling apart.
Joseph Stolen...lol...that’s good.
Jan 6, 2021, was a Wednesday and not a holiday. One would think that active duty was at their posts and stations working. There has not been one active duty person identified as entering the Capitol. This is a political purge, pure and simple.
We deserve better leadership than this.
Stalinist purges begin.
Well when the Civil war breaks out these troops that are left will make easy marks...
Bet’cha it’s not just people at the D.C. rally. They’re going to look at everyone’s social media profiles/posts.
Looking for anyone posting conservative stuff, Come and Take it flags, Confederate flags and so forth. Guarantee it.
K.😃
Well there’s another chunk of history omitted from high school history books.
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