Pentagon Announces Tougher Extremism Screenings for New Military Recruits – By Stephen Losey (Military.com) / April 9 2021
The Defense Department plans to add questions about current or past extremist behavior to screening questionnaires given to troops during the accession process, part of an effort to eliminate radicalism from the ranks.
And recruits who provide demonstrably false answers to the questions could find themselves subject to punishment for fraudulent enlistment, according to a Friday memo signed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The review and standardization of accession screening questionnaires is one of several actions the Pentagon announced Friday in its anti-extremism effort.
Austin’s memo also establishes a new anti-extremism working group, and commissions a study to gauge the scope of how prevalent extremist behavior is in the force.
