A civilian Air Force employee has been debarred from his Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) workplace for threating to take part in agitation against the federal government, an AFMC spokesman said Tuesday.
Derek Kaufman, a spokesman for AFMC, said Tuesday he could not identify the man nor say where he worked.
Kaufman also declined to say whether the person in question is still employed. A debarment order was placed against the individual to prevent him from entering the installation where he worked after he threatened “violent behavior against the government,” Kaufman said.
“I can confirm a Department of the Air Force civilian employee assigned to an AFMC installation is currently barred from entering the installation where he is employed for supporting violent behavior against the U.S. Government,” Kaufman said. “At this time, privacy protections prevent release of any additional information regarding investigatory activities or the individual’s employment status.”
While AFMC has its headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, it also has a major presence nationally as well, at the Air Force Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California, at the Air Force Sustainment Center at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma, the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, at Kirtland AFB, in New Mexico.
The Air Force Research Lab and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center also fall under the AFMC umbrella. Both of those major missions are based at Wright-Patterson.
Since the Jan. 6 riot in which a mob invaded the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. military has sought to identify and root out ideological and political extremism in its ranks. Dozens of current and former military members were charged with taking part in that riot.
Last month, Air Force leaders distributed videos and instructions to local commanders to help them conduct one-day “stand-downs” to focus on extremism. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III on Feb. 3 ordered the stand-down to happen within about 60 days.
The Air Force Times reported Monday that the AFMC case was revealed in a series of slides developed by the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Office created to guide Air Force units in how to confront extremism.
“Civilian employee SUBJECT made statements declaring he was a member of ‘Proud Boys.’ SUBJECT additionally threatened to overthrow government and stated he would be part of civil war following 6 Jan 21 events at the Capitol Building. … AFMC issued a debarment order against civilian employee SUBJECT,” the Times reported, quoting the slide presentation.
AFMC has nearly 90,000 military and civilian employees nationally and is one of nine major Air Force commands. It focuses on equipping Airmen and oversees Air Force research, development and acquisition of planes and weapons systems.
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