Despite numerous warnings in recent years of growing white supremacist numbers in the U.S. military, the Defense Department waited until late in 2009 to quietly issue a directive ordering soldiers to refrain from participating in such activity on the Internet. The first of its kind order governing dissident and political activity that the Pentagon had issued since 1996, the rule says military personnel “must not actively advocate supremacist doctrine, ideology, or causes,” including postings on blogs or websites. Among the many examples of white-power believers who have served in the armed services were the 130 members of newsaxon.org, a social networking website affiliated with the National Socialist Movement, who had listed “military” as their job in their user profiles.