In recent months , the Army has
witnessed unparalleled events that have
torn at the fabric of our nation . I
met with the Army's most senior leaders ,
Acting Secretary of the Army , the
Honourable John Whitley , the chief of
staff of the Army General James
McConville , and the sergeant major of
the Army , Michael Greenstone , to
discuss ways to identify and address
extremism within our ranks and the
responsibilities we share to foster an
environment that promotes diversity ,
inclusion and equity while honoring the
legacy of our organization and the
trust of the American people . Mhm .
Is there anything you would like to
open up with ? Thank you , Sergeant
Harrison . I would like to open with a
brief remarks about the state of our
army . Our army is the premier ground
combat force in the world today for
over 245 years of continuous service .
Uh , we remain one of the most
respected institutions our country and
the reason for that success The reason
for that respect is because of our
people . Our soldiers and civilians are
a tribute to our country and to our
army . It has been a busy year for our
army . In addition to our ongoing
deployments and combat operations . Uh ,
we've been busy at home , in particular
with the Covid pandemic . We've been in
the forefront of responding to the
covid crisis . We have delivered care
in civilian hospitals . We have helped
to develop the vaccine . We have
delivered supplies and we are now out
assisting with the distribution and
delivery of the vaccination . The
American people are proud of our
soldiers and civilians . They're
they're amazed that their dedication ,
their professionalism and their
selfless service . This stand down day
is about how we treat our people and
and how we get better at taking care of
and our people and building cohesive
teams . So my first question is , what
is extremism , any type of
participation in or advocacy for
unlawful activity in particular
violence , For example , obviously
attempting to overthrow the U . S
government by violence would be an
example of an unacceptable behavior .
But it's broader than that . Our
soldiers and civilians have all kinds
of political views , and that's
completely fine . But if they were to
cross the line and to use violence or
to advocate for violence to advance
those views , that would be
unacceptable . There's no place in our
army for the use of violence or
unlawful activity , uh , to further
those types of ends . And and that's ,
uh , that's one of the things that this
day is about . General conflict . What
is the Army senior leaders message to
the force ? Well , the message from the
senior leaders is , we have the world's
greatest army . We want to maintain the
world's greatest army , and the way we
maintain that is preventing behaviors
that hurt US soldiers and break trust
with the American people and behaviors
like extremism , racism , sexual
harassment and sexual assault . They
hurt our soldiers and they break trust
with the American people so we cannot
have them in our army . Who is
responsible for training on extremism
at the unit level , The equal
opportunity folks are responsible for
conducting that training . According to
the Army regulation , however , it is
extremely important that every leader
is present and takes responsibility to
weed out extremists in our army . So ,
Mr Secretary , can you tell me if this
stand down has anything to do with
political beliefs ? That's a very
important question . Thank you for
asking it , and the answer is no . This
stand down has nothing to do with our
soldiers or civilians , political ,
religious or social beliefs . I mean ,
this stand down is occurring in the
context of a very divided country .
Cancel culture has become a common term
that's used . We've had public calls
for discriminating against Americans
based on their political beliefs . That
is not what this is about . Our army
has done more sacrifice more for our
freedom and our American way of life
and our American values than any other
institution in the history of our
country . Our soldiers now serve and
that cause , uh , your Army senior
leadership , the Army senior leadership
is not about to disrespect that
sacrifice or to sacrifice our values .
Now , uh , this is not about any
soldiers or civilians . Political
beliefs . This is about specific
behaviors that undermine unit cohesion
that undermine readiness and that bring
disrespect and disrepute on the United
States Army . Our soldiers allowed to
participate in First Amendment
demonstrations . There are some
constraints on what they can
participate in and how they can
participate . They can't wear their
uniform , they have to be off duty .
They're not allowed to participate in
violent demonstrations . And what I say ,
the soldiers , if you have a question .
Talk to your chain of command . Talk to
your legal advisers to make sure that
you represent , uh , the army the way
you should . So , Mr Secretary ,
how big of an issue is extremism in our
ranks ? The numbers are small , but
this is a situation where even a small
number can be a problem . Let me give
you an example of a soldier who was
arrested in late 2019 . That soldier
was distributing plans for how to
produce improvised explosive devices .
That soldier was planning to leave and
go to the Ukraine to join a
paramilitary outfit there . Upon arrest
and trial in federal court , that
soldier was sentenced to 30 months in
prison . It's those types of actions
that undermine our units that undermine
our army values and that bring
disrepute upon our army . So while the
numbers are small , it is a real
problem and a problem that we have to
take seriously and resolve . Are there
any repercussions for soldiers who are
displaying extremist behaviors ? You
are not authorized to bring
discredit to the heroism of the
soldiers that have gone before you ,
and if you believe that extremism is
the right thing to do . There's no
place for you in our army . And if you
violate that , you can be
subject to the Uniform code of military
Justice and we can do an admin
separation . And if you break a law
that's criminal and there is no place
for that in our Army , thank you so
much for this candidate conversation .
As we close out , What do you want
leaders to take away from this ? I
think every leader needs to know that
our army is strong . Our army is , uh ,
the most one of the most respected
institutions in our country . And one
of the reasons for that one of the
primary reasons for that is because of
our people is what are people do each
and every day , Uh , and to keep those
people , to have those people able to
perform at their level at the level we
expect them to , we need to treat our
people with respect . And our people
need to live . The army values each and
every day . And , you know , I think
just , you know , kind of reinforced
with the secretary said about what
makes us the world's greatest army .
And that's being a cohesive team that
can fight and win on any battlefield .
And these harmful behaviors affect
readiness . And we need to realize
today is just the beginning of a
campaign to get after these harmful
behaviors that we've been working on
and make sure that they're not resident
in the force because these harmful
behaviors hurt readiness . They
break the trust , the American people ,
and we can't have them in our Army . I
would like to say , as we close out our
conversation , these are uncomfortable
conversations . None of this , I would
say , is actually easy . It's not easy
in this group in my squad . It's not
gonna be easy in any squad . Anytime
you have uncomfortable conversations ,
there's gonna be disagreement . There's
going to be maybe even some arguments .
I think I would rather have folks in a
small group have a disagreement and an
argument as opposed to just keeping
that inside and having those beliefs
and you don't share them . And I think
what I would like to see is people have
open and candid conversations about all
those things that we've seen in the
last year , whether that's racism or
extremism or what happened in the
summer or what happened in January .
Let's have that conversation . How do
you feel about that ? And that's where
I would like leaders present . And I'd
like N , C . O s and officers all of us
to sit down and say , How do we feel
about this ? And then air that out ?
Because I think the way forward is to
make sure we actually can have the
conversation in the first place . And I
think that's the most important thing
that I'd like to share with everybody .
Mr Secretary General , come some major
thanks again for sitting down and
discussing this topic . Leaders and
soldiers . We hope that this inspires
your discussion on extremism and the
importance of unit cohesiveness . Now
that we have heard from our army's most
senior leaders , it's your turn to have
the same candid conversations at your
unit as you reflect on recent events .
Please remember the meaning of the oath
we each took to become a member of the
United States Army and review behaviors
they're illegal are prohibited under
the old policy . Let's also spend some
time reviewing our individual
responsibility for reporting to our
chain of command when observing
prohibited actions for those that
raised red flags . And finally , let's
finish our discussions and what actions
should be considered an effort to
combat extremism . Thank you for
listening . Remember , these candid
conversations are just one of the ways
we make people our number one priority .