Recent attacks involving active duty troops and military veterans have left many wondering if hate groups in the military might again be on the rise. I am going to interject here and say that they are growing in membership since President Obama was elected. There was an immediate spike in the number of people joining hate groups and militias the day after he was elected. Military secert societies and hate groups have been there all along just as they have in the rest of society. Unfortunately the attitudes that make a person a successful leader can make them a loyal dedicated hate group member if they can be twisted just a little bit. This makes it easy for individuals to recruit membership from out of the military.
In early August, two National Guardsmen on trial said that they joined the military for the specific purpose of receiving training that they could use for skinhead activities. The same month, a shooting rampage at a SikhTemple in Wisconsin that killed six was allegedly committed by an Army veteran with a long history of white supremacist involvement.
Many times gang members will join the military for the exact same purpose. They have been known to use the killing skills that they acquired in the military to commit crimes after they have been discharged. Sometimes these tactics will frustrate local law enforcement personnel because they are trained to protect and use defensive tactics while military personnel are trained to kill.
Many people won’t believe this but as an Army Officer I saw just as much or more overt racism in the military as I saw in civilian life. The biggest difference was that superiors who were racists were more overt with it because the military leader has more authoritative power. I can count more racist experiences in the military than I ever saw in civilian life.
Now they say that if you have a complaint you can always take it up the chain of command. The unfortunate problem with taking your problem higher is this; Your higher ups don't want to hear that the subordinates that they picked may have issues. Also they will hopefully share the same views about racist behavior that you do because if they don't they won't be anxious to help you.
Nine times out of ten the person that you are complaining to and the person that you are complaining about invite each other to their social functions. Nuff said.
The personality that is neccessary to be a successful military leader is one that is easily trained conducive to racist because the typical military leader has to be opinionated, stubborn, and intolerant in order to accomplish the difficult job that the military has given him to do. I am not being vindictive about this but I am just calling it like I see it.
The association between hate groups and the military is not new. There was enough evidence of Marines joining the Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s for Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger to issue a directive against it. Why? Military leaders are trained to be intolerant. You can't maintain military order and discipline if you allow differences of opinion or operations that are not standard.
I just believe that this is a problem that is systemic within the ranks of the military. There are many commanders who may not actively support these activities but they have ways to show that they are sympathetic. If the military chain of command in the units were deadly serious about this problem it could be stifled.
I am not painting the military as an evil place. I enjoyed the time that I spent there but it has its problems also. I did notice that as the years went by there seemed to be less racist attitudes in the younger troops who came in.
Our military ring customers come from all walks of life. I met all types of people while I served. Some of them were wonderful lovely people but some were not.
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