Extremism is becoming increasingly common among veterans and military personnel

There is a steadily growing group among American military veterans and service members: extremists. While the number of people in the military who practice extreme ideologies remains small compared to the 2.86 million active-duty military personnel and 16 million veterans, experts are concerned that this extremism continues to infiltrate the ranks of the armed forces.

Recent in-depth investigations into the phenomenon have shed light on these ideologies, which usually manifest as: far-right extremism but can encompass all facets of the political spectrum. And there is growing concern that this radicalization could lead to violence, as in the past.

There is no data that is absolute, but reports have tried to be quantify military extremism. More than “480 people with a military background” have been “accused of ideologically driven extremist crimes from 2017 through 2023,” a study by The Associated Press. At least 230 of these arrests were related to the January 6, 2021, uprising at the US Capitol. At least 80% of extremists with a military background identify with the extreme right, the newspaper said National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).

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Veterans also make up “four of the five members of the Proud Boys leadership charged by federal prosecutors with seditious conspiracy,” an investigation by EDGE. This study also found that “having a military background was the strongest predictor of involvement in a mass casualty attack in the United States from 1990 to 2021,” while “having a military background increased the lethality of attacks by up to two times increased’.

When people in the military “radicalize, they tend to radicalize to the point of mass violence,” START’s Michael Jensen told the AP. Among extremists this is the most important predictor of to become a mass casualty “had a US military background – which was more important than mental health issues, which was more important than being a loner, which was more important than having a prior criminal history or substance abuse problems.”

Previous studies, including one from the Department of Defense (DOD), have “confirmed what many military observers” already knew: extremism “doesn’t have to be big to be deadly,” he said. The Atlantic Ocean. Participation in violence by “even a small number of individuals with military connections and military training… could pose a risk to the military and to the country as a whole,” an DOD report said in 2023.

Although the “military draws from the general population, initial screening and training should screen out people who for various reasons do not belong in the military,” according to The Atlantic, but this doesn’t always happen. And veterans are “viewed as important additions to violent extremist groups given their prior weapons training and their logistical and leadership skills,” according to the RAND study, and veterans also “lend a sense of legitimacy to militant groups that can further bolster recruitment.” The army too crooked masculine and white, two demographic groups “associated with right-wing (and to some extent left-wing) extremism in the United States.”

The Pentagon and Congress have also ‘called for greater efforts to root out extremism in the ranks’ Intercepting it. This includes efforts to “implement steps and provide recommendations to address the threat of extremist activities. However, politicians have often ignored reports that “identified veterans with negative military experiences as the demographic group at greater risk of radicalization.”

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How widespread is extremism in the military?