DOD Inspector General Finds Lapses in Screening Recruits for Extremist and Gang Behavior

Recruiters sometimes skipped required interviews, questionnaires, tattoo symbols, fingerprint checks, and even background investigations.

A military recruitment center stands in Brooklyn New York City on Sept. 4, 2020. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A new Department of Defense Inspector General review, found that military recruiters had failed to comprehensively screen potential enlistees for connections to political extremist groups and criminal organizations.

The 82-page report published on Aug. 3, determined that while recruiters have been screening applicants, many did not complete all of the required steps in the files reviewed by the DOD’s Inspector General’s office.

The U.S. military has an existing ban on anyone enlisting with a significant criminal record or affiliation with violent gangs or extremist groups.

The Inspector General study was conducted between July 2021 and January 2022 and analyzed 224 applicants out of 193,702 applications.

The DOD report said military recruiters “may not have identified all applicants with extremist or criminal gang associations during the screening process.”

Recruiters sometimes skipped required interviews, questionnaires, tattoo symbols, fingerprint checks, and even background investigations, which allowed some applicants to go into active duty.

Forty-one percent of recruiters in the review failed to provide the relevant screening questions or forms to applicants. Nine percent failed to identify possible signs of gang affiliation through tattoos and body modification, and another 9 percent failed to conduct fingerprint identification properly.

Pentagon Inspector General, Robert Storch, said that such oversights increased “the potential for security risks and disruptions to good order and discipline” within the military.

“Recruiting high-quality servicemembers is essential to mission readiness,” he said in a press statement.

Although most recruiters generally follow the guidelines, the Pentagon’s watchdog recommended that the DOD issue a policy memorandum directing recruiters to complete all steps on screening potential enlistees.

The DOD has updated guidelines and screening questions on recruit applications to add inquiries into any potential participation in racially biased groups or extremist activity.

The Pentagon also recommended that the secretaries of each service branch conduct periodic reviews of the screening process by 2024.

In response to the Inspector General audit, Jeffrey Angers, a U.S. Army Deputy Assistant Secretary, forwarded a July 10 memo to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, reminding recruiters to ask applicants about their affiliations with extremist groups or gangs, reported The Navy Times.

“Extremist and hate organization ideologies and affiliations are antithetical to Army core values,” wrote Mr. Angers.

“It is important to follow all the required steps for screening applicants for extremist, hate and criminal gang associations during the accessions process... Applicants associated with these beliefs and/or organizations are neither permitted nor suited to access in the United States Army.”

New recruits raise their hands as they take an oath outside the Times Square Military Recruiting Station in New York on Nov. 10, 2017. Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images

Biden Admin Weeding Out ‘Extremism’

The review follows in the footsteps of a DOD April 2021 memorandum, which commissioned a monitoring group to address concerns about what they defined as extremist groups in the U.S. armed forces.

President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, promised to stamp out what he called political extremism in the ranks.

The White House has expressed concern about people of certain political persuasions in the military, particularly after some veterans and active duty service members were arrested after the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

However, many Republicans, such as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), have cautioned against labeling some recruits as extremists due to their political affiliations, who can also be people who don’t believe in “Joe Biden’s agenda.”

A RAND Corporation study released in May found that American veterans are no more extreme than the average U.S. citizen.

About 5.5 percent of veterans supported the far-left extremist group Antifa, compared to 10 percent of the American public, according to the study.

A minute 0.7 percent of veterans backed white supremacist organizations compared to 7 percent of the U.S. population.

Only 17.7 percent of veterans told surveyors that they supported the need for political violence, compared to 19 percent of non-veteran respondents.

The RAND study’s lead author Todd Helmus said, “we found no evidence to support the notion that the veteran community, as a whole, exhibits higher rates of support for violent extremist groups or extremist beliefs than the American public.”

“However, our findings do suggest work still may be needed to make sure veterans are not susceptible to being recruited by those with extremist ideologies,” Mr. Helmus said in a press release.

Failing to Find Fresh Recruits

The U.S. Armed Services are struggling to recruit more personnel, especially since the pandemic and President Biden took office.

The Army, Navy, and Air Force are all expected to fall short of their enlistment goals this year, as the military fails to attract enough young people to serve, while even fewer of them are able to pass the most basic qualifications.

Only 23 percent of young Americans are qualified to serve, Gen. Randy George, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, told lawmakers in April.

Recruits can be disqualified for several reasons, including failing physical fitness exams, prior and current drug use, and poor test scores.

Many potential recruits are increasingly unwilling to serve due to an increasingly woke military that is seen as discriminating against the nation’s historical demographic recruiting base of conservative white males.