After the stand down, Mr. Austin set up a working group to examine how to better vet recruits and educate service members who may be targeted by extremist organizations. The group then submitted recommendations, which Defense Department officials said they hoped would enable commanders to better root out extremism.
John F. Kirby, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said officials discovered that about 100 service members were involved in substantiated cases of extremist activity over the past year.
In a memo to the department on Monday, Mr. Austin said the Pentagon was updating its screening of recruits and would also look at how to prepare troops who are retiring from being targeted by extremist organizations after leaving the military.
“The overwhelming majority of the men and women of the Department of Defense serve this country with honor and integrity,” Mr. Austin said in the memo. “They respect the oath they took to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
He added, “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.”