Gangs in the Military

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How much do we know?

Army defends recruit screening process
Critics say lowering standards leads to gangsters in the military

Defense officials believe they have rules in place to make sure gang members aren’t signing up or being recruited to join the military. But Scott Barfield, a former gang investigator for the Army at Fort Lewis, Wash., said he has seen many recruits with spotty records allowed into the service, with little concern about whether they’ve renounced their gang past. “It’s all about numbers,” he said. “If we weren’t at war right now, we wouldn’t have the issue we have.” Barfield said he based that statement on his and colleagues’ observations about gang incidents in the service. But Army officials say they have no evidence that the number of gang members joining or trying to join has increased.
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White supremacists’ presence has been a concern for years

The Pentagon has long been aware of the threat posed by white supremacists in uniform.

In June 1996, the services’ secretaries addressed the House of Representatives National Security Committee on the military’s moves to eliminate hate groups in the armed forces.

“They (servicemembers) come from all corners of our society, including a few dark corners where young people are exposed to racist, xenophobic and misogynist notions,” a published version of their address states. “From day one, the services must teach these recruits the military’s core beliefs. One such core belief is that equal opportunity is a military necessity.

Five years ago, former Marine Tom Leyden, a self-described former neo-Nazi white supremacist, spoke to students at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., about the dangers of extremism in the military.

Today, Leyden is still campaigning against white supremacists in the military as a college speaker.

Several high-profile incidents in the 1990s made the military aware that white supremacist groups were attempting to make inroads in the U.S. military. Former Marine Tom Leyden, a self-described former neo-Nazi white supremacist, says the number of white supremacists in the military is currently in the hundreds.

Experts: Admitting problem must precede addressing it

Having the military admit it has a gang problem is a tall order, according to Scott Barfield, a former Department of Defense investigator in Fort Lewis, Wash.

“If they admit there are gangbangers in the military, less parents are going to be apt to want their kids to go in because of fear of gang members being in their unit,” he said.

Avoiding denial of gang dynamics is one proactive response military leaders can take to address gangs, according to a 2006 presentation by Kenneth Ferguson Kelly, a former Army military police investigator in Germany.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Army
Sgt. Clint Griffin talks with a prospect at a recruiting station while working with the Special Recruiter Assistance Program in Seattle Battalion.


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