(CNN) — An inside US Army survey illustrates the challenges the army is dealing with to combat extremism within the ranks even after the Pentagon made it a prime precedence originally of the Biden administration.

The inside survey, carried out final 12 months and obtained by the Project on Government Oversight by means of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, discovered that almost half of the respondents incorrectly recognized find out how to report extremist habits. Meanwhile, a 3rd of those that responded weren’t positive find out how to report such habits.

In addition, one in 5 didn’t notice that donating cash to a company that advocated the prevalence of a racial group is banned. Perhaps extra worryingly, one in ten didn’t determine utilizing pressure, violence or illegal means to deprive people of their rights as prohibited.

The survey was carried out as a part of an audit into how Army leaders had been incorporating extremism consciousness and prevention into day-to-day operations. It was carried out by the US Army Audit Agency and accomplished in June 2023, however it was not made public.

Combatting extremism within the army was a prime precedence for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin early within the Biden administration. One of Austin’s first orders was to order a standdown throughout the army to deal with extremism and extremist habits. The Pentagon additionally established the Countering ExtremismWorking Group, which made a collection of suggestions on the finish of 2021 on how the army ought to deal with the difficulty of extremism.

The survey discovered that Army leaders had integrated extremism consciousness and prevention into their command local weather, however it mentioned the method nonetheless have to be improved. Part of the problem was that the Army didn’t clearly outline extremist habits or exercise, the survey mentioned.

As a part of the trouble to fight extremism within the ranks, the Defense Department put out a extra particular definition of what constituted extremist behavior and exercise in December 2021. The replace got here within the type of a Department of Defense instruction. But the Army had two separate laws about extremist exercise, which the survey mentioned had been “unclear and outdated.”

“Inconsistent definitions caused personnel we interviewed and surveyed to be unsure of what was and wasn’t extremist behavior,” the survey discovered.

But the Pentagon’s extremism effort was quietly deserted because it got here below rising Republican assaults, as CNN has previously reported. As of May 2023, solely one of many six suggestions from the Countering Extremism Working Group had been carried out, the Pentagon mentioned.

According to a November report from the Defense Department inspector common, the overwhelming majority of allegations of extremist exercise within the earlier fiscal 12 months got here from the Army. Of 183 formal allegations of extremist exercise, 130 got here from the Army.

The survey beneficial utilizing the up to date Defense Department definition of extremism all through Army coverage, a suggestion which the report mentioned the Army is implementing. The survey additionally beneficial offering higher entry to supplies on extremism consciousness and prevention.