At least 20 current members of the US military signed up for the anti-government Oath Keepers militia at some point since its founding in 2009 - with 14 of them using their official military emails - despite Defense Department rules against participating in 'extremist activities.' Overall, 81 people signed up for the Oath Keepers while in uniform, according to a USA Today analysis of a list released last fall by the nonprofit whistleblower collective DDoSecrets. The Defense Department has known of members' involvement in extremist groups for decades, but it has relied on a policy that only banned them from actively advocating for them. The rules were beefed up in December in response to the January 6 Capitol riot. Some say they signed up for the group at gun shows or other events without knowing what it stood for. Others touted their military training, such as shooting and recruiting, in case the group had to defend the Constitution against an attack. In all, 19 members or associates of the Oath Keepers face charges of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding by traveling to Washington to stop lawmakers from declaring Joe Biden winner of the 2020 presidential election. On Friday, Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes appeared in court on multiple charges, including seditious conspiracy, for his role in the riot. A Defense Department spokesman said the department doesn't 'tolerate extremists in our ranks' and that individual supervisors can use 'the full range of administrative and disciplinary actions, including administrative separation or appropriate criminal action' to deal with any such links. At least 20 current members of the military have signed up for the anti-government Oath Keepers militia since its inception, according to a USA Today analysis of leaked data Members of the group, which believes that it may have to act violently if the government seizes its citizens' guns, have been arrested for taking part in the January 6 Capitol riot (above) Anthony Guadagnino (left), a recruiter for the New York Army National Guard, said that joining was a mistake. US Marine William Potting (right) said he thought the Oath Keepers were a pro-Constitution veterans' group and that he unsubscribed after getting too many emails The Department of Defense says it 'doesn't tolerate' extremists and that any discipline is handled by direct supervisors within the members' branches. Above, troops salute President Biden's motorcade on Inauguration Day last year The Department of Defense routed DailyMail.com to the individual military branches for comment. The branches did not immediately respond to questions asking if the 20 service members will be disciplined. Navy spokeswoman Priscilla Rodriguez told USA Today: 'Sailor participation in supremacist or extremist activities is directly contrary to professionalism standards which all Sailors are expected to follow. We will investigate reports of misconduct and those found in violation of the Navy's policies will be held accountable.' In October, the newspaper confirmed that 40 current and former law enforcement officials have also signed up with the group based on the same leaked list from DDoSecrets. Some service members signed up for the Oath Keepers with their official .mil email addresses. Army veteran Jason Kobylarz, who signed up for the group in 2010, said this was probably because they weren't tech savvy and only had that one email at the time. The Oath Keepers were founded in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2009. The group 'claims to defend the Constitution' and is 'based on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy Americans’ liberties,' according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Members of the Oath Keepers believe that the government may at one point plan to seize all Americans' guns. 'The groups' fears around government overreach are most clearly exemplified in the group's list of 10 "Orders We Will Not Obey" – a compendium of perceived but unrealized threats from the government. Examples of these orders include the government imposing martial law, confiscating citizens’ guns and forcing Americans into concentration camps,' according to the SPLC. The center had previously sent the Department of Defense a leaked membership list featuring members of the military back in 2018, USA Today reports. Joshua Hockman, a fire control specialist with the Army National Guard in Florida, said he hadn't been involved with the Oath Keepers in almost 10 years and never finished paying his dues Some members, like Coast Guard veteran Matthew Rupp (left) signed up with their official military email addresses. Others, like Army veteran Jeremiah Pulaski (right) touted their skills gained in the military Susan Corke, the intelligence project director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, says the Oath Keepers purposely target military and law enforcement. 'Their ultimate goal is a hard-right ethnostate, and they're prepared to take up arms to do so, and they're actively preparing,' Corke said. 'The tactical expertise of military and law enforcement is very, very attractive to the Oath Keepers.' Jeremiah Pulaski, an Army veteran living in Arizona, said: 'I'm not sure I’m an Infantry man so I’m limited. But if needed I’ll get the job done.' Matthew Vanderboegh has served in the US Army Reserve since 2000 and signed up for the Oath Keepers in 2010. He wrote in a form that he could help with 'recruitment' and 'passing out fliers.' Vanderboegh is also the son of the co-founder of the Three Percenters, another far-right militia. 'This is a really, really serious problem,' said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of Global Project Against Hate and Extremism and former head of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. 'And time is of the essence.' 'Too many active-duty troops have been caught up in domestic terrorism investigations in recent years, and you just say the words "Timothy McVeigh," or "Eric Rudolph," and you realize what the dangers are of a white supremacist or other kind of extremist who's learned a lot in the military and then uses it against the American people' The Oath Keepers' ultimate goal is a 'hard-right ethnostate,' one expert says. Above, Oath Keepers including founder Stewart Rhodes (left) cheer at a Donald Trump rally in 2019 The Oath Keepers were founded in 2009 in Las Vegas. Many of the current and former military members who joined did so during that time. Above, Oath Keeper are seen at the Jan. 6 riot Scott Wassmer, a Coast Guardsman from Wisconsin who left the service in 2015, wrote: 'If the time comes I will execute my duty as a III Percenter and Oath Keeper.' Vincent DiCello, a former Navy pilot, touted his 'electronic warfare background' and ‘recruiting training' and called himself an 'expert shot' with pistols and rifles. Some of the members contacted by USA Today said they joined or signed up to receive emails without really knowing what the group was about. Four of the 20 current service members said they signed up a decade ago and aren't actively involved. Sgt. Anthony Guadagnino, a recruiter for the New York Army National Guard in Troy, New York, said it was a mistake. 'I thought it was patriotic,' he told USA Today. 'It's not.' William Potting, a Marine, said he saw a post about the Oath Keepers on Facebook in 2013 in a group for supporters of former Rep. Ron Paul's presidential campaign. 'It looked like a veterans' group that was pro-Constitution,' he said. 'After awhile, the emails were just junk mail. They were constantly sending me emails, so I unsubscribed.' Charles Martin, who's in the Navy, said the owner of an Army surplus store gave him a flier to fill out for a chance a framed copy of the US Constitution, similar to the one on the wall of the store. 'They kept emailing me and I just moved their crap to my spam folder and never dealt with them,' Martin told USA Today. Several accused Oath Keeper rioters are seen in this picture released by the Department of Justice taken on January 6 Joshua Hockman, a fire control specialist with the Army National Guard in Florida, said he hadn't been involved in almost 10 years and never finished paying his dues. A longtime DoD policy prevented service members from advocating for extremism but not from being affiliated with it. The policy was updated in December. 'As a result of the January 6 attack and the number of military service members and veterans and law enforcement officers (who were involved in the attack), I think there’s a growing recognition that there needs to be the due diligence done on individuals who are going to have positions of trust within the government,' said Rep. Jackie Speier, a Democrat from California who has been sounding the alarm on the issue of extremism in the military since at least 2019. The new policy prevents members from advocating or engaging in 'unlawful force or violence' in the name of an extremist group. It also bans them from fundraising and recruiting for the groups, liking or sharing their posts on social media or displaying any related paraphernalia, such as logos and badges. Matthew Rupp and Michael Marion, both veterans of the Coast Guard, signed up with their official military email addresses, as did Cody Meredith from the Navy. They all told USA Today they didn't know much about the group when they joined nearly a decade ago. Rupp said he sent $15 in 2013 after he saw a magazine ad about disaster relief. 'Once I got the pamphlet, I realized it was a load of horses***. It was not as described,' he said. Daniel Medoff, 38, was in the Army when he signed up in 2009 after a tour in Iraq and working at a hospital in Germany. An ad for the Oath Keepers 'popped up' online. 'My heart wasn't really in it, it was just more the thrill of it – that addiction of feeling like I could belong somewhere,' he said. Stewart Rhodes, shown in his booking photo on Thursday, appeared in court in Plano, Texas, on Friday to plead not guilty to seditious conspiracy Overall, 19 members or associates of the Oath Keepers face charges of corruptly obstructing an official proceeding in the January 6 riot. Founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes, 56, and Edward Vallejo, 63, of Phoenix, Arizona, were arrested on Thursday. The others who were charged were already facing criminal charges related to the attack. Those include Thomas Caldwell, 67, of Berryville, Virginia; Joseph Hackett, 51, of Sarasota, Florida; Kenneth Harrelson, 41, of Titusville, Florida; Joshua James, 34, of Arab, Alabama; Kelly Meggs, 52, of Dunnellon, Florida; Roberto Minuta, 37, of Prosper, Texas; David Moerschel, 44, of Punta Gorda, Florida; Brian Ulrich, 44, of Guyton, Georgia and Jessica Watkins, 39, of Woodstock, Ohio. Prosecutors said Caldwell sent a text message to someone believed to be affiliated with the Three Percenters, an anti-government movement, on January 3 about the possibility of sending weapons across the river. Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Uriah Orland said in a statement: 'We do not tolerate extremists in our ranks or any extremism activity. Any individual or individuals we identify who have extremist behaviors or extremist tendencies are addressed immediately. When we become aware of these individuals or their activities, we refer them to appropriate authorities.' He added that commanders can use 'the full range of administrative and disciplinary actions, including administrative separation or appropriate criminal action.' At least 106 of the 753 people charged in the January 6 riot were part of a far-right or extremist organization, USA Today reports. In 2006, the SPLC warned then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the military had 'relaxed standards to prohibit racist extremists from serving in the armed forces' in its quest to recruit for Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2009, agents at the Department of Homeland Security published a report warning that extremists were attempting to recruit current and former members of the military, but it was buried under Republican pressure. All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility