Approximately a quarter of troops in the United States military see examples of white nationalism within their ranks and nearly a third believe the issue is more of a national security threat than several other international affairs, according to a new poll.
The Military Times polled more than 1,000 service members and found that 42 percent of non-white troops said they had personally seen examples of white nationalism in the military, and 18 percent of white troops said they had.
Additionally, 30 percent of those polled said white nationalism posed a threat to national security—higher than other threats such as Syria (27 percent), Pakistan (25 percent), Afghanistan (22 percent), and Iraq (17 percent).
The Military Times poll found that 60 percent of service members said they supported using the National Guard to handle civil unrest that comes as a result of white nationalist activities, such as what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, after a white supremacy rally caused violence to erupt in the small college town earlier this year, eventually leading to the death of one woman.
Approximately 5 percent of the poll’s respondents also complained that groups such as Black Lives Matter were not included as a national security threat to choose from. However, according to the publication, people who chose “U.S. protest movements” as a threat to national security “fell well short” of those who believed white nationalism posed a large threat.
The poll surveyed 1,131 active-duty troops between Sept. 7 and Sept. 25. The margin of error was 3 percent. The poll was conducted using a confidential online survey.
You can read more about the Military Times’ poll here.