04.21.21

U.S. Space and Strategic Commanders Rebut Claim of Widespread Extremism in Military Ranks

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, in a hearing yesterday asked the commanders of U.S. Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command if they were aware of widespread extremism in the ranks of the military. The question comes on the heels of a suggestion made last week by one of the senator’s colleagues that as much as ten percent of America’s military service members may ascribe to “violent extremist” or “white supremacist” ideology—an unsubstantiated claim that would amount to more than 200,000 military personnel.

General James Dickinson, commander of U.S. Space Command, and Admiral Charles Richard, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, both refuted the assertion, which was also rejected by two other combatant commanders in the April 13 SASC hearing.

“I think in my experience, I’m still serving in the Marine Corps Reserve, [ten percent] is absurdly high,”said Sen. Sullivan. “It wasn’t based on any data. That would make about 200,000 to 250,000 members of the active force supposedly fitting within that category, which I think is a disparagement of our men and women in the military…Is that your experience, ten percent, one in ten, 250,000 active duty forces, are somehow extremists or racists?”

“I am very confident that the number of extremists in my forces is zero,” said Adm. Richard. “The Department has made it clear for decades that we don’t tolerate that. My forces are a little bit different. We have certainly done everything that Secretary Austin has told us to do. He has made it very clear what the standards are, but it’s reiterating the standard. Every person in my organization has to have a security clearance for starters. Right? And when you fill that form out, and I’ve been filling it out for forty years, there’s an extensive battery of questions designed to get after that very point. And then somebody goes and investigates you, and then they go talk to all of your references, and then they go talk some more, hunting for that very thing. We don’t care what the source of extremism was. Those date back to—communism was actually what they were looking for when I first came in. And today they’ll even look at your social media. If you can’t pass that bar you, I don’t even see you. And then on top of that in my forces, we have a personnel reliability program. So you now have peer monitoring brought in and a number of other standards. So if there are any extremists in my organization, one, they hide it very well, and two, it’s just a matter of time until I get to them.”

Sen. Sullivan then posed the question to General Dickinson. 

“General, what’s your view on this?” Sen. Sullivan asked. “I know you have a lot of experience given your decades in the U.S. Army.”

“In my organization, a very similar organization to U.S. Strategic Command…we have the same rigor in terms of the questions that are asked during their security clearances in terms of getting them to the proper clearance level so they can perform their duties within my command,” Gen. Dickinson answered. “I will tell you right now that we have done everything that Secretary Austin has asked us to do in terms of training and awareness. But in my organization, I would say that number is zero. We are very keen and aware of those types of activities, or what would lead to those, and we understand that very well. So, in terms of years of experience, yes, I would tell you, in formations that I’ve had throughout my career, I have not seen that. So I believe it’s close to zero in my organization, if not zero.”

On March 4, Sen. Sullivan pressed President Biden’s nominee to serve as undersecretary of defense for policy, Colin Kahl, regarding Kahl’s claim that there exists “systemic racism” within the ranks of the U.S. military. Kahl did not present evidence or data to support his assertion.

In the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Sen. Sullivan included an amendment requiring the Pentagon to produce a report on diversity and inclusion in the Armed Forces, including providing data to identify racial inequities that may exist in the military.

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