Military Gangs Reaction Paper
Overview
Military gang activities have been on the rise in the United States lately. The gangs’ affiliation in the forces poses major threats to both military and civilian communities. Different law enforcement agencies and especially the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been carrying out investigations on this affiliation. However, there lack clear laws governing the regulation of military gangs. Although the Congress directed the Secretary of Defense to promulgate policies prohibiting the active participation of military personnel in criminal gangs, the policies are prone to loopholes that make it difficult to combat military gangs.
Introduction
Although there is no consensus on the definition of gangs, most of them are often associated with criminal activities. Communities across the globe can attest to the negative effects brought about by the gangs. They are often characterized by strong leadership, use of common identifying symbols and languages, a unity which is often referred to as brotherhood, and clearly stipulated rules that govern their behaviors. Albeit gang activities are not as powerful as organized crimes, they are equally difficult to contain especially when some or most of their members are in the military. Military gangs are a major threat to the social, economic and legal aspects of any society. As law enforcers strive to combat military gangs, the community also has a crucial responsibility in the fight against military gangs and other acts of terrorism in their locality.
Gangs’ History
The history of gangs in the United States dates back to as early as the 17th and 18th century. They were mainly formed by members of ethnic groups and immigrants to defend themselves and assert their interests in the foreign land. They were also used by politicians to intimidate opponents and to carry out criminal activities on their behalf. As such, they were highly associated with certain localities in the states. Street gangs were involved with most of the homicide cases and the sale of illegal drugs in the urban areas of the states in the 1990s. According to Roumie (2017), they are more likely to come from broken or poor homes or immoral peer groups. They are also highly likely to have been poor performers at school, unemployed or under-employed. With the upsurge use and availability of firearms, gangs have increased in both numbers and members. They have also become more sophisticated and organized than they were before making them more resistant to crime-fighting techniques than there before. Some gangs are often hired to carry out organized crimes in the society. However, as aforementioned, it is careless to generalize gang activities since their agenda is often different.
Military Gangs
The number of gang members in the US military has been on the rise over the years. According to Eyler (2008), the Army alone had seventy-nine suspected incidences of gang activities in both domestic and international military installations in the United States. The gang members are often involved in criminal acts such as robbery, homicides, aggravated assault and illegal drugs dealing. Security privileges bestowed on them by the government, their military training and equipment come in handy when committing these crimes. They also train their gang members on different combat tactics upon discharge. This has led to a rise in more organized and sophisticated gangs in the society getting rid of anyone who threatens to expose their activities. The threat is even higher when the members secure their way to top ranks in the military as they disrupt good order, engage in trading of military weapons and threatens the armed service professionalism. The gang membership is, however, more common in the junior enlisted ranks than it is in senior ones.
Recruitment of Gangs in the Military
Gang members often sneak into the military by using fake documents and concealing their past convictions. The members also make sure that their juvenile records are sealed from the recruiters. However, some of the military recruiters also lack the proper training to recognize gang affiliation when no observable criminal records or tattoos are available. They also choose to sometimes ignore some of their knowledge and skills when carrying out the activity. Pressure to meet recruiting goals also contributes to document falsification and employment of over-aggressive military training tactics. The gangs enlist in most of the branches of the armed forces hence they are widely spread across the military. This helps them to expand their gang culture to other localities and nations worldwide threatening the law enforcement efforts to eradicate crime in the society. Albeit some of the gang members join the military to escape the gang membership or immurement, they often revert back to their membership upon meeting other gang members in the base. Some of the gang members, however, join the forces with a clear agenda to continue and strengthen their dealings or gain access to sensitive information on investigations.
Despite the undeniable faults in the military recruitment process, the Department of Defense has recently authorized the issuance of “moral waivers” to enlistees with criminal backgrounds. Moral waivers were granted using a holistic concept of “whole person” review at the early stages of the recruitment process by the Commanding General of the Army Recruiting Command. It is believed that the Department lowered its standards to accommodate more people in the forces due to their high demands for service personnel. The Army, which bears the greatest number of military personnel is believed to be more at fault in the recruitment process. This has consequently led to an upsurge in the number gang members in the military branch.
Following public criticism of their recruitment process, the army asserted that its current recruitment policies are governed towards the elimination of gang members in the force. They claimed that according to these policies, recruits are asked to disclose information on their criminal activities. In this process, they are also required to divulge any sealed, expunged and juvenile record to the recruiters. According to the army, enlistees disclosing past law violations undergo suitability reviews before being enlisted into the army. The reviews involved evaluation of the severity of the crimes committed, enlistee’s capacity and ability to reform, and the degree to which he/she meets other Army requirements and standards (Smith, 2015). The recruiter is supposed to solicit for the applicant’s criminal files from the local and state authority to carry out a police record check. In this suitability review process, the Army recruitment policies also require the recruiters to balance underlying competing interests, share information on the applicant to relevant administrative individuals giving sound discretion where necessary. However, there have always been some shortcomings in the implementation and execution of the policies in the recruitment process.
Enlisting Gang Members in the Army When there is evidence through verbal or written communication, tattoos, physical appearance, behavior or gestures that an applicant is involved with a criminal organization, group or street gang, certain procedures are used to determine his/her eligibility of the position. Through the use of both direct and indirect questions, the Army commander should verify whether the applicant was fairly assessed and determine whether there were personal biases or prejudices. Applicants admitting to having been involved in a gang or other criminal activities are questioned on their involvement in the activities. According to the Army recruitment regulations, previous involvement in gang and other extremist activities is not always a ground for disqualification. A “whole person” concept must be applied before disqualifying an applicant. This enables the recruiters and the commanders to dete*********
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