Following recommendations in a report commissioned by then-President Richard Nixon, Congress allowed the draft to expire in 1973. Since then, the U.S. has been an all-volunteer military force and over time has represented certain demographics with a propensity for Christian nationalism.

“I think that the fact that military service today is seen as a contract of a certain length,” said Dennis Laich, a retired U.S. Army general and author of “Skin in the Game: Poor Kids and Patriots.” “It is not seen as a national service. The insubordination we have seen from service members refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine on what they say are religious grounds is insubordination. It is also a result of the contract mentality in the military today.”

Military recruiters who have tight quotas to fill to meet the needs of an all-volunteer military have said they do not have the power to thoroughly vet potential applicants to the military.

“If someone comes into a recruiter’s office in Ohio and they have some extremist views, Christian nationalist views or far-right views, a recruiter might overlook that in allowing them to join so he can meet his quota,” Laich said.

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