The Base has recruited members by using iFunny, a meme social media website. Before his identity was revealed in January 2020, Nazzaro, known online as "Roman Wolf" and "Norman Spear", was personally involved in active recruitment, with the aim of forming cells in Europe, South Africa and Australia. The group is active across the United States, and it is also active in Canada. The Base has been designated as a terrorist entity by the following countries: Nazzaro has stated that his goal is to "build a cadre of trainers across the country." sharing knowledge and training to prepare for crisis situations", but he denies its connections to neo-Nazism. Nazzaro has characterized The Base as a "survivalism and self-defense network. The group has links to the Atomwaffen Division and the Feuerkrieg Division, which are far-right extremist groups. It organizes " race war preppers" and operates "hate camps", or training camps. The group's vetting process serves to connect committed extremists with terroristic skills to produce real-world violence. It advocates the formation of white ethnostates, a goal which it believes it can achieve via terrorism and the violent overthrow of existing governments. The Base is a White Nationalist accelerationist paramilitary group and training network. In November 2020, a feature-length interview with Nazzaro was broadcast on Russian state television. Nazzaro, who used to work for the FBI and the Pentagon, moved to Russia around the time he created The Base, and directs the group's activities from there. Nazzaro was reported to have bought several blocks of off-the-grid land in Washington state, United States, in 2018 for use as a survivalist training camp.
The group was founded in June 2018 by Rinaldo Nazzaro, who uses the pseudonyms Norman Spear and Roman Wolf.