The former Air Force C-17 pilot nominated to oversee the department’s installations came under fire during his confirmation hearing Feb. 17, as multiple senators pressed him over an editorial in which he advocated for the use of artificial intelligence to track extremism in the military. ...
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on April 9 announced interim steps to counter extremism in the ranks following Defense Department-wide standdowns to discuss the issue, including updating DOD guidance on what defines extremist behavior and updating questionnaires that prospective service members take. In the ...
The Department of the Air Force has given USAF and Space Force commanders and senior enlisted leaders a toolkit to help equip them to carry out Defense Department-directed stand downs to address extremism within their ranks, department spokesperson Lt. Col. Malinda Singleton confirmed to Air ...
Department of the Air Force leadership has distributed videos and instructions for how local commanders can hold their Defense Department-ordered one-day stand down to focus on extremism, with the goal of small group discussions on core values in service. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. ...
As Airmen and Guardians pause their daily routines to consider the spread of white supremacy and other far-right ideologies in their ranks, their discussions will fuel department-wide changes to how the Air Force responds to extremism. “There are many offices involved with creating the content ...
The Department of the Air Force will conduct its own comprehensive assessment of white supremacy and other forms of extremism in its ranks, while senior leaders in the next few weeks begin to discuss the problem with Airmen and Guardians as part of a Pentagon-wide ...
While the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building happened thousands of miles away from his office at Osan Air Base, South Korea, 7th Air Force Commander and U.S. Forces Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus said the event’s aftershocks still were felt ...
Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon, spent his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 19 pressing his civilian bona fides to lawmakers, with some pledging opposition to the waiver Austin would need to become the nation’s first Black Defense Secretary. Austin spent ...
Twelve National Guard personnel who deployed to the nation’s capital to support the presidential inauguration have been sent home after they were vetted by the Army and Federal Bureau of Investigation, though only two were pulled over concerns about extremism, defense officials confirmed in a ...
The Pentagon is reckoning with the growing presence of ideological extremists in its ranks, especially white supremacists and militia members who target troops to bolster their organizations’ credibility. A group of lawmakers on Jan. 14 called on the Defense Department to launch a “comprehensive” investigation ...