An official website of the United States Government 
Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov

.gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

SEAC: DOD Will 'Move Fast' Against Extremism After Completion of Stand Downs

You have accessed part of a historical collection on defense.gov. Some of the information contained within may be outdated and links may not function. Please contact the DOD Webmaster with any questions.

The services have just two weeks left to complete a military-wide stand down to conduct training on and discussion of extremism in the ranks with every service member, a task assigned in early February by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III.

On April 1, the services must collect data from subordinate commands and provide notification to senior Defense Department leadership about having completed the training for every service member, and any feedback they received during the training stand-downs — information the department will use in finding better ways to educate the forces about extremism in the ranks and root it out, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman RamĂłn "CZ" ColĂłn-LĂłpez said.

A man in military uniform stands upright and holds his right hand in the air.
Oath of Office
Senior Chief Petty Officer Jason Cornelius, assigned to the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Arlington, recites the oath of office during extremism training, March 7, 2021.
Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class John D. Bellino
VIRIN: 210307-N-PC065-3003

"I will tell you that we are wanting to move fast on all these initiatives because we're dealing with people, and we just need to make sure that we provide the results that they need to have an environment that is worthy of serving," ColĂłn-LĂłpez said during a press briefing today, adding that extremism is not going to be tolerated. "We're committed to confronting and rooting out extremism in the military."

The initial training is just the beginning, ColĂłn-LĂłpez said. In the future, there will be more training and that follow-on-training will be developed and revised based on feedback from the services.

"Training may actually evolve into something else that we need to go ahead and give [to] specific people, like first sergeants as an example, [who] are the ones that are gauging the behavior of units," ColĂłn-LĂłpez said. "I foresee that there will be some changes coming based on what we learn from people."

Two military personnel and a man in civilian clothes stand behind lecterns on a stage. In the rear, a large display screen shows a video that features the secretary of defense speaking from the Pentagon..
Leader Message
Naval Information Warfare Systems Command’s leadership triad from left, Navy Rear Adm. Douglas Small, commander, Command Master Chief Thor Forseth and Executive Director John Pope listen to a video message from Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III during a Defense Department-mandated extremism stand down presented virtually from NAVWAR’s Old Town San Diego complex, March 8, 2021.
Photo By: Rick Naystatt, Navy
VIRIN: 210308-N-UN340-001M

Something else, he said, is that the military services must collaborate on how to set policy regarding extremism and the training on extremism as well, so that it's relatively uniform across the services, because the future wars we fight are going to be joint. For that to happen, there must be uniformity across all services in how things like extremism are addressed.

"We see that we need to collaborate a lot more," he said. "Nothing that we do is unilateral by service. Everything that we do is likely to be joint. And if you have a commander that's in charge of different people ... then I cannot be applying different rules for [one or the other] ... we need to have a common understanding. And that is the direction that the military needs to go."

Military leaders have speculated that the number of extremists in the ranks is not high, though concrete numbers are not yet available. ColĂłn-LĂłpez said that right now, what's important is that those who are in the ranks know the military is seeking them out and will put an end to extremism.

Multiple military personnel sit at a long table.
Stand Down
Sailors assigned to Commander, Destroyer Squadron Seven participate in a Navy-wide stand down to address extremism in the ranks, March 12, 2021.
Photo By: Navy Lt. Lauren Chatmas
VIRIN: 210312-N-PL200-0008M

"What is most important to me right now is the prevention of that behavior," he said. "Because even if they exist right now, if they know that the department and the institution is looking for that behavior, and wanting to crush it, then they will think twice about performing those acts. This is all about prevention. We don't want people to commit criminal activities. ... The key point here is that we need to make sure that we let our personnel right now, past and present, know that we do not tolerate that behavior, and that we're going to educate our people to know right from wrong."

Related Stories