The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/department-of-defense)
Over the course of the 2010s, it felt as though Heathens in the U.S. military made steady, if slow, progress on their religious rights. Pete Hegseth claims to have reversed all those gains in a matter of weeks. Karl E.H. Seigfried considers where Heathens go from here.
A now verified Pentagon memorandum circulating online suggests new scrutiny of religious grooming exemptions for service members, raising concerns among Pagan and Heathen practitioners and echoing tensions following earlier controversial “Nordic Pagan” remarks by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in 2025.
In this week’s Pagan Community Notes: “Nazi Druid” goes on trial, US DoD releases extremism guidelines, Vandals destroy petroglyph, PSG to be in person, Dogs may be the first nonhuman to detect language, and more news.
The John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (SWCS) in conjunction with a DOD 60-day stand down issues caution to members of the military regarding extremist symbology.
UNITED STATES – On May 22, Huginn’s Heathen Hof (HHH) published a post suggesting that the Department of Defense (DoD) would be placing the Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA) on a hate group list. According to the original report, the NCIS was investigating the group after its Facebook page was taken down. However, on June 10, HHH removed the story from the website. In its place is a statement saying that, due to new evidence, “the story has been temporarily pulled until further notice.” What happened?