As an Army officer, he has told of how he had to confront troops with Nazi insignia at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and of countless meetings when he was the only person of color in the room. In his 41-year career in the Army before retiring as a four-star general in 2016, Austin witnessed firsthand both the possibilities and the limitations of how the military deals with race. Austin III is poised to become the nation’s first Black defence secretary, an ascension that, depending on how Austin decides to proceed, could either sharpen or blur the US military’s decadeslong battles with racial inequality and white supremacy. The reckoning at the Pentagon comes as retired Gen. The defence department inspector general announced an investigation last week into the effectiveness of Pentagon policies and procedures that prohibited service members from advocacy of or participation in supremacist or extremist groups. Last Tuesday, Milley and the rest of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent an extraordinary letter to all military personnel, reminding them that Biden would soon be their commander in chief and that they were duty bound to defend the Constitution. Milley said he saw reports that “people were showing their CAC cards,” a reference to the identification cards used to enter military installations and the Pentagon. Rainey had resigned from her post last year but was not set to leave until this spring. Emily Rainey, an Army officer who told The Associated Press that she had transported 100 people to Washington for the Trump rally, is being investigated by the Army for any connection to the riots, according to a military official. Of the 21,500 Guard personnel who had arrived in Washington by Monday, any who will be near President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will receive additional background checks, a standard procedure to counter insider threats that was also taken before President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017.ĭefence Department officials say they are looking into stepping up the monitoring of social media postings from service members, in much the way companies do with their employees.Īshli Babbitt, who was shot and killed trying to climb through a door in the Capitol, was an Air Force veteran with a robust social media presence.Īmong the suspects with military ties are Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, another protester at the Capitol, who federal agents say is a neo-Nazi and white supremacist he also is an Army reservist who works - with secret clearance - at a naval weapons station.Ĭapt. At the rally and later at the Capitol breach, rioters were seen with Marine Corps flags, Army patches and Special Forces insignia.įederal officials are vetting thousands of National Guard troops arriving to help secure the inauguration. Milley said he saw rioters carrying military flags. “There was some indication that an unknown number of veterans associated with the insurrection,” he said. He said most active-duty troops and veterans “continue to serve honorably and uphold their oath to protect and defend the US Constitution.”įor more than a week now, Milley has listened to analysts, read reports and viewed videos of the riots. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. “These people are not representative of our country’s military,” Gen. The military’s examination of its ranks marks a new urgency for the Pentagon, which has a history of downplaying the rise of white nationalism and right-wing activism, even as Germany and other countries are finding a deep strain embedded in their armed forces. Another person with military service was shot and killed in the assault. They include a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel from Texas, an Army officer from North Carolina and an Army reservist from New Jersey. The FBI investigation into the Capitol siege, still in its very early stages, has identified at least six suspects with military links out of the more than 100 people who have been taken into federal custody or the larger number still under investigation. 6, senior leaders of the 2.1 million active-duty and reserve troops have been grappling with fears that former or current service members will be found among the horde. In the days since a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol on Jan. WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is intensifying efforts to identify and combat white supremacy and other far-right extremism in its ranks as federal investigators seek to determine how many military personnel and veterans joined the violent assault on the Capitol.
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