I’ve written before about how US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has ties to an ascendant Christian nationalist movement. Specifically, he attends a church in the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), a denomination founded by Idaho pastor Doug Wilson, who has said that women’s suffrage was “a mistake” and suggested that homosexuality should be considered a crime. Hegseth invited Wilson to preach at the Pentagon earlier this year, where he exhorted the troops to renew their focus on Christ.

A senior defense official in Hegseth’s department appears to share these ties—and has expressed Christian nationalist and far-right views on social media. Justin Overbaugh, a retired US Army colonel, currently serves as Deputy Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security. According to Overbaugh’s Department of War profile, he is responsible for “overseeing defense intelligence and security agencies and shaping policy to advance national security and military operations.” In other words, the role comes with considerable responsibility and visibility. After being hand-picked by Hegseth, Overbaugh was confirmed with little controversy last September.

Overbaugh is a decorated veteran who led intelligence operations in the Middle East as well as in the United States and Europe for 25 years. Yet despite this extensive experience in sensitive communications, his social media presence has a freewheeling quality about it. Machismo is a central theme: On his personal X account, he frequently posts a........

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