Murder At Fort Bragg: Investigating White Supremacy Within Military Ranks

This radio diary is part of our hour on the resurgence of extremism and white supremacy in the military. Listen here.

Lloyd Austin became the country's first Black defense secretary with a 93 to 2 vote in the Senate on Friday.

During his confirmation hearing last week, Secretary Austin shared his own experience with extremism coming up through the ranks. In 1995, he was a lieutenant colonel with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

"We woke up one day and we discovered that we had extremist elements in our ranks," Austin said in his confirmation hearing.

Austin is referring to a 1995 double homicide. Three white soldiers shot and killed a Black couple in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

"The signs for that activity were there all along. We just didn't know what to look for ... but we learned from that," Austin said.

So what exactly did the department of defense learn?

To answer that question, we turn to George Reed, a former Army CID Supervisor assigned to the case. Over 25 years later, he says the details are still fresh in his mind.

George Reed, a retired Army Colonel and military policeman. He is now dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.