Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday (R) with Sailors aboard the USS Colorado

WASHINGTON: Following Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s order to military leaders to identify and confront hate groups operating within the ranks, the Navy’s top admiral says he’s focused on not only rooting out extremists, but finding ways to keep them from joining in the first place.

“We absolutely have to understand those within our ranks that are involved in those organized activities, as well as take further actions to stem the accession of people that belong to those kinds of groups,” he told Breaking Defense in his first comments on Austin’s new marching orders, which include a 60-day stand-down to discuss the issue across the services.

The issue of neo-Nazi, far-right and other racist hate groups working and recruiting inside the military has increasingly alarmed the Pentagon, backed by a Military Times poll last year in which one in three active-duty service members who responded reporting they have “personally witnessed examples of white nationalism or ideological-driven racism within the ranks in recent months,” an increase from the previous year’s survey.

“They’re organized, they have an organizational structure, and in some cases, they have an oath,” Gilday said. “They have mission statements. And so it’s really disturbing to have organizations of like-minded people who are moving forward on potential objectives here that are counter to the values of the US military.”

The CNO said that not only does he want to stop them from coming in and recruiting while inside, but it’s critical to let those leaving the Navy know that they’re prime targets for recruitment. 

“We have a responsibility to educate those that are leaving the service that they are going to be recruited by these people, and they need to be aware that they’re going to have people reach out via email or social media.”

Headlines last month made clear the scope of the issue after a number of veterans identified as taking part in the Trump-inspired storming of the Capitol, raising serious concerns about the extent of support in the armed services for extremist views and organizations.

Among them were a retired Air Force officer who played a leading role in breaching the Senate floor, a Navy vet and a conspiracy-minded retired Air Force vet who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer while trying to break into Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

Using social media as a recruiting and propaganda platform, hate groups and cults like QAnon have been able to organize and plan, often using encrypted messaging platforms to come together.

Service members can be particularly vulnerable when it comes to retire or separate from the military. It can be a tough time for some as they leave the tight-knit military community and might look for ways to recreate that in the civilian world, the CNO told me: “They’ll find them as they’re leaving a close cadre that they’ve belonged to, whether it’s been just for a four-year hitch, or whether it’s been 20 [years] or three decades. There’s a certain esprit de corps, and now there’s going to be a gap. And so these extremist groups will look to fill that gap.”

Announcing Austin’s 60-day stand down across the force on Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said plans for addressing the issue were in the early stages, and a lot of discretion was being left to commanders in how they’ll address the issue.

In 2020, the FBI opened 143 investigations into troops and veterans, 68 of those for domestic extremism Kirby said, adding, “even though the numbers might be small, they may not be as small as we would like them to be, or we believe them to be,“ Kirby said.

But the storming of the Capitol has changed the equation inside the Pentagon from seeing extremism as something to be dealt with, to something that has to be confronted head-on. “The events of Jan. 6 served as a wakeup call,” Kirby said. “It had an electric effect here in the Department of Defense.”

Kirby told reporters on Jan. 28 that the FBI opened 143 investigations into troops and veterans in 2020, 68 of those for domestic extremism.

Austin met with the Joint Chiefs on Wednesday to give them direction on how to move out on the issue. “He was very clear that he wants commands to take the necessary time” to figure out how to handle it.

Gilday said the problem needs to be directly addressed now, but also cautioned that the services need some time to shape their approach for the long haul. “The services are working together with OSD so that we have a consistent approach here,” he said. “And we’ve been pretty good at doing that. If you think of how we’ve dealt with COVID…we’ve learned together and stumbled together and have improved together. And we need to do the same thing with extremist behavior or extremist groups within the ranks as well.”