Perception and Reality: The Urgency of Finding and Fixing Extremism and Racial Bias in the Armed Forces

Capitol Insurrection

By Rachel E. VanLandingham & Geoffrey S. Corn

Many Americans were undoubtedly dismayed by the news that as many as 20% of participants in the January 6th insurrection – a percentage about ten times greater than the percentage of Americans who volunteer to serve in the military – were current or former members of the armed forces. And for good reason. The active or even passive participation of those who have sworn an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, is especially damning.

As disappointing as the deeply-flawed judgment of these men and women may have been, even more troubling would be a failure of the military institution to seize upon this moment as an opportunity to take a hard look at how and why the corrupted message that inspired this insurrection produced such appeal …

By Rachel VanLandingham

President, National Institute of Military Justice, and Professor of Law, Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles, CA.

By Geoffrey S. Corn

George R. Killam Jr. Chair of Criminal Law and Director of the Center for Military Law and Policy, Texas Tech University School of Law; Lieutenant Colonel, US Army (Retired); Former Special Assistant for Law of War Matters and Chief of the Law of War Branch, Office of the Judge Advocate General, US Army; Chief of International Law for US Army Europe; Professor of International and National Security Law at the US Army Judge Advocate General’s School.

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