Seventy-two cases of active-duty and veteran military members involved in white supremacists and violent anti-government militias and groups located in open-source reporting from 2017-2022 were compiled and analyzed on 17 key variables.
Researchers examined the shared characteristics among white supremacist and far-right violent extremists with military experience, differences between active-duty military members who engage in violent extremism and those who become involved as veterans and processes by which contemporary military members become radicalized to white supremacist and far-right violent extremist ideologies.
It is clear that all branches of the military have been targeted and infiltrated by violent extremist groups and those identified here ranged in rank from private to lieutenant colonel. Forty-three percent of the sample (who could be coded on this variable) were active-duty at the time of the incident. Seventeen members of this group rose to become leaders in their groups, perhaps due to their military experience.
Twelve percent had joined their groups prior to military service and 14 percent were radicalized while in the military. It was also clear that veterans with posttraumatic stress particularly are vulnerable to recruitment. Given that not only are these individuals weapons-trained, but close to half (who could be coded on this variable) also had combat experience, it is chilling that eight individuals were involved in an incident which involved actual, attempted, plotted, or threatened violence.
While the overall numbers involved are small, the brutality, lethality, and widespread psychological impact of some of the plots and actions by the cases presented herein, makes clear the military has a duty to engage in military-wide prevention efforts to ensure that members are not admitted who are already radicalized into extremist violence.
That members understand what is prohibited and are socialized to identify and intervene when they see violent extremism in the ranks, and that those who are identified are treated in a manner that does not cause the whistle-blower to be punished or the extremist to be released from the military prior to some rehabilitation efforts having been taken.
Additionally, the results of this study emphasize the role that Veterans Affairs and non-profits dedicated to helping veterans transition into civilian life have to play in this prevention and intervention work, as well.