The arrest of neo-Nazi elements in the British army, in September 2017, demonstrated the mounting ability of terrorist groups to infiltrate of Western armies. Although most analyses focus on the disintegration of national armies in war-torn states in the Middle East, the presence of multiple loopholes in military professionalism of Western armies allowed terrorist and extremist groups to penetrate them and recruit some conscripts and officers, or plant some terrorist elements within their ranks. These new developments prompted Western states to review the mechanisms of recruitment, training, intellectual and psychological preparation in military institutions.
Loopholes in Professionalism
Military professionalism conceptualized within the domain of sociology of professional communities, and then was used within the military field. It is referred to as a value system that aims at achieving professional discipline and control through setting criteria for the ideal performance in the area of specialization. Accordingly, knowledge and functional specialization play great role in defining professional community and its collective identity.
The discussion about discipline and regulations, which govern military institutions, gained momentum when the US military moved towards recruiting mercenaries and volunteers. However, the value aspects remerged in attempts to define the concept. Values and beliefs were considered to have a key role in identifying the collective identity, especially the values of nationalism and patriotism. Almost all literature on this subject confirm that the degree of professionalism in a certain military institution can be determined through observing practices, relationships, governing rules within armies.
Other experts argue that military professionalism is the key to the soldier’s allegiance to the army, which steers one away from conducting acts of sabotage, such as joining terrorist organizations or threatening national interests. Loopholes in military professionalism could undermine soldiers’ loyalty and turn them into potential threat to the state, which can be explained as follows:
1- Allegiance to the state: Samuel P. Huntington, in his famous book “The Soldier and the State”, published in 1957, referred to what is known as military mentality. He set it as a precondition for military efficiency and identified several important attributes. The most important of which is that the state is the most powerful actor in the global political scene. Perhaps this perception is what correlated between the emergence of professional military institutions and modern civil state.
To achieve this criterion, there must be a balance in the composition of the military establishment if their ethnic backgrounds are heterogeneous. Different ethnicities and races are not supposed to pose a threat to the unity of the organization, if national identity transcends subsidiary loyalties. As long as military recruitment, promotion procedures and relationship patterns - whether peer-to-peer (horizontal relationships) or relationship with commanders (vertical relationships) - are free from discriminatory treatment of a class at the expense of the other, the soldier tends to disregard self-interests for the greater good.
2- Institutional rules: The institutional rules governing the work of military institutions can be split into four basic rules: recruitment mechanisms, promotion systems, military discipline and performance, and discharge mechanisms.
In some cases, institutional rules turn from governing rules to loopholes that terrorist organizations exploit, where some terrorist organizations plant individual sympathizers within the ranks of armies, which occurred repeatedly within the US military. Moreover, neglecting promoting and discharge rules sometimes leads to discontent among soldiers, which terrorist organizations utilize to recruit those professional elements.
3- Military superiority: As countries seek constantly to strengthen material and technical military capabilities, terrorist organizations try to acquire the same modern technologies to counter regular armies. Military training manuals for the US army were found in a room of one of the terrorists. Sometimes, terrorist groups try also to project alleged power. They might, for example, hack military institutions to undermine public confidence in the ability of such institutions. Weak army and declining power versus terrorist organizations may tempt some soldiers to join the stronger party.
Infiltration Mechanisms
Terrorist organizations use several mechanisms to infiltrate Western military institutions, the most important of which are the following:
1- Terrorists’ enrollment: Officials in German military counterintelligence, in November 2016, revealed that some terrorist groups send their members to join the German army to obtain professional training on the usage of all types of weapons. They discovered 20 extremist elements in various military branches; and had suspicion regarding the affiliations of more than 60 others. Moreover, the officials discovered that 30 German retired soldiers joined ISIS.
ISIS exploited the flexibility of recruitment and admission rules in the German army, under which an individual is entitled to apply for recruitment. All he needs to submit is a certificate of good conduct from the police along with a declaration of commitment to the German constitution. Thus, ISIS managed to plant its elements within the German military to boost its capabilities, exploiting the professional loopholes in the institution. In addition, terrorist groups can utilize such elements to spy on military business, recruit soldiers, and ensure their loyalty.
2- Recruiting soldiers: Terrorist organizations seek to recruit military personnel to undertake limited operations. For example, Jonathan Melaku, US Marine officer fired at several vital military sites, including the National Museum of the Marine Corps, Pentagon and army recruiting centers, from October 17, 2010 to November 2, 2010. Estimated damage resulting from his attacks was about USD 100,000. After he was taken into custody, the police found in his possession several letters related to Taliban, a book titled “The road to Jihad” and a list of names of foreign terrorist organizations, as well as methods of making explosives.
The recruited elements may also be used to infotm terrorists about the movements of military units, their tactics and plans. In 2004, an official in charge of the US army ordnance was arrested as he provided federal officials, disguised as members of Taliban, with information on how to destroy certain types of American tanks. However, his defense lawyer presented evidence that he was mentally ill. During his military service, Paul R. Hall disclosed classified information related to the movements of US Navy battle ships in 2001 to Azzam Publications, based in London, known for its support for terrorist movements. Investigations also showed that he changed his name to Abu Jihad and leaked reports about classified documents, which he was entitled to access from his perch on his battle ship.
In addition, some of such elements may leave the country to join the ranks of terrorist organizations. The French Defense Ministry announced in 2015 that 10 soldiers from the special forces joined ISIS, one of them had received special training on shooting and coping mechanisms during war, and served in the French army for a long period before he joined the private security firm, which sent him on missions to meet some extremists.
3- Recruiting the retired: In January 2014, the US authorities arrested a retired American official, who served in the US air force, while trying to cross into Syria through Turkey. It is noteworthy that this military official worked in many companies as an aircraft engineer after leaving the military service. Although the details revealed in this case did not resemble a systematic attempt by ISIS to recruit retired elements, the defendant’s statements during his trial indicated that he mingled with a number of those belonging to the group after leaving the army.
Also, Eric Aaron travelled to Syria and joined al-Nusra Front after completing his military service and was filmed during the clashes as he directed his rocket to target US fighter planes. Upon his return to the United States in 2013, Aaron was arrested for conspiring to attack the American forces. However, he managed to reach a judicial agreement, under which he admitted a less serious crime and was sentenced to six months in prison.
In conclusion, the above-mentioned infiltration techniques suggest that Western military institutions spend money and effort, provide gear and manpower training, for terrorist organizations to come and effortlessly reap the fruits. This is due to the presence of elements that embrace extremist ideology within Western military institutions. Some of these elements suffer from alienation and weak sense of belonging, in addition to structural imbalances in the recruiting and training systems in the Western military institutions.
