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The Pentagon stumped and unsure about how to address white nationalism and other forms of extremism in its ranks, announced plans for military-wide stand-downs that will pause regular activity at some point in the next 60 days to tackle the issue.
The decision to hold a stand-down was made by Lloyd Austin, who made history by becoming the first Black secretary of Defense after a long career rising in the Army’s ranks. In his confirmation hearing, Austin underscored the need to rid the military of “racists and extremists.”
Austin ordered the stand-down after a meeting with the U.S. military branch leaders, who are under pressure to show progress in combating extremism after current and former military servicemembers were found to have participated in the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.