The Department of Defense (DoD) under the umbrella of the Pentagon released a report discussing political extremism in the US military. The Pentagon review was triggered in April by the January 6 Capitol Hill Riots, after the DoD discovered numerous former members of the military participated in the DC insurrection.

These new guidelines resulted from information that dozens of service members took part in the Capitol Hill revolt. Pentagon leaders ordered a 60-Day stand down after the January 6 riots so they could assess the political upheaval among their ranks, discuss the issues among their ranks, and address white supremacy and other extremism within the military with members of the military at every level.

In the report, substantiated cases of extremism in past and current members of the military are said to be about one hundred.

The new report, however, doesn’t offer much guidance or clarity on how to manage the dangers of extremism among the military and instead discusses how to identify domestic extremism of prior or current military members.

However, the report falls short of banning specific extremists from joining the US armed services and doesn’t list any specific organizations in the long-awaited report.

Despite the ongoing presence of the Proud Boys or the Ku Klux Klan, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said they did not share a list of specific hate groups because organizations change constantly.

”If we got into coming up with a list of extremist groups, it would be only probably as good as the day we published it because these groups change," said Kirby.

Instead, the review defines a specific definition of extremist activity and how extremist groups actively participate in such behavior. The report recommends creating education for military members about prohibited extremist actions and advises the DoD to create an in-depth screening of anyone joining the military in regard to extremism.

The review defines extremist activity as military members fundraising or protesting for an extremist organization, or liking extremist posts on social media. Local military leaders can decide how to punish armed service members who fall into this category of behavior deemed “extremist.”

Much of the report discusses how to identify extremists within the military as part of a program called ‘Insider Threat Program.’ This program can be used to identify military members who behave in specific ways that correlate to extremist activity. However, beyond identifying possible extremist behavior by service members, what to do with such armed service members who exhibit extremist behavior is not discussed.

The only actual change resulting from this report regards social media. For the first time, service members are responsible for any posts they create on social media platforms. If a service member “likes” a hate group or extremist groups, such as White Supremacy groups and others, a local captain may punish them with disciplinary actions. However, there are no specific punishments recommended by the report.

Last month, the Pentagon's Inspector General shared data of specific extremism within the military. Incidents cited include 294 allegations of extremist activity by US service members, ten allegations of trespassing at the Capitol on January 6, 102 allegations of other members participating in domestic extremist violence, seventy racially motivated extremist actives, and seventy-three allegations of anti-government extremism.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, who instated the 60-Day stand down, said in a memo that the DoD discovered almost all military personnel expressed strong patriotic beliefs during the stand down.

“The overwhelming majority of the men and women of the Department of Defense serve this country with honor and integrity,” said Austin. “They respect the oath they took to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We believe only a very few violate this oath by participating in extremist activities, but even the actions of a few can have an outsized impact on unit cohesion, morale and readiness, and the physical harm some of these activities can engender can undermine the safety of our people.”

There are no clear-cut guidelines on how to address extremism in the military in this report, nor plans by the DoD on how to supervise their armed service members on social media.

Since the 1980s, The Southern Poverty Law Center has been investigating, tracking and reporting extremism in the military. This organization reports that about 80 of the 700 individuals charged by the Justice Department in connection with the Capitol riot had direct ties to the US military. The Center reports over two dozen former and active-duty military staff have been linked to white nationalist and extreme far-right organizations, such as Neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division, The Base, and the Boogaloo movement.