(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
During his confirmation hearings, Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) nominee Lloyd Austin said that he would make it his priority to combat racism and extremism in the US military. He has been true to his word. On February 5, 2021, he directed unit commanders and supervisors at all levels to conduct a leadership “stand down” to address the issues of extremist ideology in the Department of Defense. Stand-down training materials to guide the process were subsequently released on February 26. Here are a couple of noteworthy excerpts (emphasis added):
The vast majority of the men and women in the United States military and those who serve the Department of Defense as civilian employees perform their duties and responsibilities with integrity, and do not support racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists, including