The National Socialist Movement (NSM) is paramilitary in structure; its members claim to be lieutenants, sergeants, or other military-themed ranks. Jeff Schoep, the head of NSM, is its “Commander,” and the various chapters of the groups are termed “units.” In just a few years, the NSM has grown from a few chapters to a few dozen. However, most of its chapters are quite small, and many tend to be very short-lived.

Not only is the NSM paramilitary in structure, but its members have engaged in armed paramilitary training. In issues of its various periodicals over the years, the NSM has advocated weapons training for whites and has published the recipes for explosives such as fertilizer bombs.

The membership of the NSM tends to be young; many members are current or former racist skinheads. Since January 2009, the number of NSM units has declined from 55 to 39.  While the NSM movement has members in every region of the United States, the Northeast currently has the most units.  This is a departure from the group’s historically Midwestern and Southern membership.