Veteran Narratives of Support for Extremist Groups and Beliefs : Results from Interviews with Members of a Nationally Representative Survey of the U.S. Veteran Community

The report examines how U.S. military veterans describe their endorsement of extremist beliefs, their experiences in the military and in transition to veteran status, and their narratives of the path to their current political and ideological beliefs and perspectives. The authors conducted follow-up interviews in 2023 with military veterans who had previously indicated support for one or more extremist groups or beliefs on a 2022 survey to understand the drivers and patterns of extremism among veterans based on their experiences in and out of the service. The purpose of this effort was to better understand the ideology that undergirded their original support and to use their responses as a means of further exploring their political viewpoints. This report details the findings from these interviews, which revealed the considerable presence of negative and traumatic life events for interviewees while in the military and afterward while adapting to civilian life. Coupled with narratives of becoming involved in extremist ideas and groups, these narratives point to several possible implications for policy and practice, which in turn will require further research to design, test, and calibrate.

Author: Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand

Publisher: RAND Corporation

Publication Date: May 22, 2024

Number of Pages: NA pages

Language: English

Binding: Paperback

ISBN-10: 1977413102

ISBN-13: 9781977413109