After a contentious summer of nationwide social unrest that thrust the military into uncomfortable spotlights, the Army’s top general said his branch is working hard to maintain the trust of the American people and build a force free of racism, extremism, and other influences that could hurt the unity of its soldiers, from Confederate flags to QAnon conspiracy theorists. “I think any type of racism or extremism in the U.S. Army needs to be totally eliminated,” General James McConville said, in a wide-ranging online interview. “Racism and extremism — we just cannot have that in the United States Army,” McConville answered. “There’s just no room for that. It breaks down cohesion in our Army. Any type of extremism, any type of racism, any type of people that aren't willing to treat their fellow soldiers with dignity and respect and not willing to take care of each other cannot serve in our Army.” “We live in a political environment but we’re an apolitical organization, and I think it really must remain that way, especially with an election coming up,” McConville said. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and McConville served together in Iraq once, and Afghanistan twice.
“The job of the American military is to protect the nation, not to police the nation. That’s why we have police officers, that’s why we have law enforcement,” he said. When local, state, and federal law enforcement has broken down, using the regular Army, he said, “is a last resort and my best military advice is only in the most extreme conditions should that be considered.” He continued: “We should never take for granted the trust of the American people…when we have issues, whether it’s racism or anything else that divides our country and also our military, it’s something that we would take immediate action on.” McConville said he’s heard mixed opinions from soldiers about renaming the bases. “I think depending on your perspective, depending on some soldiers I’ve talked to, it’s a very emotional issue. For other soldiers, they don’t even realize the names of the people on the bases they’re at. So I think we have to take a look, but at the end of the day — what we want to do, at least as the leadership of the Army, is identify those things that may divide us and take a look at and come up with solutions that can bring us together.” “This has been a very challenging time for the country,” he said, with COVID, unemployment, and unrest. “And yet young men and women continue to raise their right hand and serve.”