Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light
can do that.
Hate cannot
drive out hate;
only love
can do that.
Hate multiplies hate,
violence multiplies
violence, and
toughness multiplies
toughness in a
descending spiral
of destruction....
The chain reaction
of evil — hate begetting hate,
wars producing
more wars —
must be broken,
or we shall be
plunged into the
dark abyss
of annihilation.
Martin Luther
King, Jr.
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The reason to have a military is to be prepared to fight and win wars.
That is our basic fundamental mission.
The military is not a social welfare agency, it's not a jobs program.
Dick Cheney
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Watch the Video!
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US Deathsin Iraq and Afghanistan (2001-Present)
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Dead Heroes
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Patriotism
is supporting
your country
all the time
and your government
when it
deserves it.
Mark Twain
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DU Alert Video
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What Are We Doing?
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Cost of War
in Afghanistan 248,053,783,012
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There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are
the people of
the United States
Frederick Douglass
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War President
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War is terrorism. That is why a
"war on terrorism"
is a contradiction
in terms.
Howard Zinn
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Enlistment Contract
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We are
at the moment
when our lives
must be placed
on the line
if our nation
is to survive
its own folly.
Every man
of humane convictions
must decide
on the protest
that best suits
his convictions,
but we must all protest...
A time comes when silence is betrayal.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Military Recruitment
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Teach for Peace!
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Enlisting?
Get the Facts BEFORE You Do!
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Military recruitment is the act of requesting people, usually male, to join a military voluntarily. Involuntary military recruitment or mandatory military service is called conscription (a.k.a. the draft). In countries that have abolished conscription, recruitment is necessary to maintain an effective standing army.
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The United States has employed conscription several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War. In 1973, the U.S. discontinued the draft, moving to an all-volunteer force while keeping the Selective Service System* in place.
In December 2006, President Bush announced that he is considering sending more troops to Iraq. The next day, for the first time since 1998, the Selective Service System announced plans for a readiness exercise in 2009.
* The Selective Service System requires all
men between the ages of 18 and 25 to register
so that, in the event of war, a draft can be more
readily resumed.
The U.S. armed forces are now designated as all-volunteer, although, in 2004 as well as during the 1991 Gulf War, some personnel were kept in the military longer than they expected. However, this was consistent with their enlistment contracts.
Although, in 2003, legislation to reintroduce the draft was defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives, in November 2006, there were again calls for the draft to be reinstated.
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Military Recruitment & NCLB
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The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), commonly known as NCLB is a U.S. federal law that aims to improve the performance of U.S.'s primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards of accountability for states, school districts and schools and provides parents more flexibility in choosing which schools their children will attend. |
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The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is a sweeping piece of legislation that covers all sorts of educational issues.
Points 1, 2 and 3 are the ones that relate most directly to the presence of military recruiters in your school:
Point #1: If your school wants to receive federal funding, the administration must hand over students' names, addresses and telephone numbers to the military.
"(1) ACCESS TO STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION ...each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students' names addresses, and telephone listings."
Point #2: You can choose to withold your information from the recruiters. You or your parent or guardian can request that this information not be released to the military. This is called opting out.
To opt out, click on the OPT OUT button for a printable LAUSD form.
"(2) CONSENT.-A secondary school student or the parent may request that the student's name, address, and telephone listing described in paragraph (1) not be released without prior written parental consent, and the local educational agency or private school shall notify parents of the option to make a request and shall comply with any request."
Point #3: The Act states that schools must provide military recruiters "the same access to students as is provided generally to post-secondary educational institutions or to prospective employers of those students." This means that recruiters have the right to the same access as other recruiters - no more or less than a college or job recruiter gets. It also means that recruiters don't get any special privileges or free access to students at any time.
"(3) SAME ACCESS TO STUDENTS. Each local educational agency receiving assistance under this ACT shall provide military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to post-secondary educational institutions or to prospective employers of those students"
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Military Recruitment Practices
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Military recruiters are salespeople.
They can tell you anything they want to get you to enlist.
Before you enlist, it's important to check out the facts behind the sales pitch.
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PROMISE: The military provides valuable, high tech job training that will prepare you for a civilian career.
FACT: Military training is for military jobs. 88% of men and 94% of women will never use their military job training in a civilian job. While the military does have some high tech jobs that will transfer to the civilian world, these jobs are reserved for those who score exceptionally well on the ASVAB.
Recruiting commercials talk a lot about the job skills you can learn while in the military. They show you exciting pictures of people helping jet fighters land on aircraft carriers, driving a tank through the desert, and jumping out of airplanes. The problem is that there aren't many aircraft carriers in Des Moines. No one is hiring tank drivers in the Bronx. And civilian airlines prefer that you keep the doors closed and that nobody jumps out.
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FACT: Even when military training does have some relevance to the civilian job market, it doesn't translate into high paying jobs. Even though the Army may make their jobs sound high tech, and may have exciting films about them, they often lead to low-paying, low-skill dead end jobs.
For instance, training for the job, Shower/Laundry and Clothing Repair Specialist in the Army will equip you with the knowledge necessary for separating, classifying and marking washable and unwashable items and operating mobile washers, extractors, dryers.... skills that prepare you for a job as a laundromat attendant.
Then there's the Food Service Operations Specialist, where you'll be trained in performing preliminary food preparation procedures, and cleaning ovens, stoves, mixers, pots and utensils. With these skills you can leave the Army knowing that you'll be able to be a productive team member in any fast food restaurant in the world, earning close to minimum wage without benefits.
FACT: Veterans earn an average of 19% less than non-veterans.
FACT: Even if you do qualify for an exciting high tech job, there is no guarantee that you'll actually be trained in that job. The enlistment contract contains a clause that allows the military to alter any provision of the contract without even notifying you. Many people sign up for what they think are dream jobs, only to find themselves in the infantry or scrubbing pots in a mess hall.
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PROMISE: You’ll get $70,000 for a College Education.
FACT: Very few - 1 in 20 - actually qualify for as much as $70,000. Actually, the maximum you can get from the GI Bill is $36,144. In order to qualify for the extra money you have to score in the upper half of the ASVAB and be willing to sign up for very specific jobs - jobs that are the hardest for the military to fill.
FACT: The amount most will receive is $0 - that's right, NOTHING. Sixty-five percent of all participants in the GI Bill never receive any money for college.
FACT: In order to actually get the money, several things have to happen:
You have to be honorably discharged,
something that doesn't happen for
20% of all enlistees.
You have to able to attend school.
Nearly half of the veterans from the
first Gulf War are sick or permanently
disabled.
You have to be enrolled in a school or
program that is approved by the VA.
You have to survive your term in the
military. If you are killed in Iraq or
Afghanistan, no one gets that college
money.
FACT: Only 16% of all enlistees who complete 4 years of service actually complete a college degree program.
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FACT: Between 1995 & 1999, tuition at 4-year colleges grew by 65%. Meanwhile, the maximum award under the GI Bill increased by only 16%. The GI Bill may not even be enough to pay your tuition. The total of $36,411 works out to $9,036 a year, or $4,518 a semester. This won't even cover tuition in many colleges. Forget about going to a private college - the average tuition in 2004 was $13,758 for a semester. During the 2005 school year, expenses for one semester at UCLA for non-residents were $16,800 a semester. Tuition and room at Michigan State cost $8,500 per semester. The University of Florida would have cost you $6,000 a semester. As you can see, the GI Bill probably won't even cover your tuition. If it does, you still have to buy textbooks, eat, put gas in your car, buy clothes, and go out for pizza and a movie once in a while.
FACT: Members wishing to participate must sign up for deduction of $100 a month for 12 months. This is not refundable, so that if the service member gets a less than honorable discharge, which about 20% do, the money is gone. It's also gone if you change your mind and don't go to school.
FACT: So few enlistees are able to take advantage of the GI Bill that the military actually makes a profit off the program - it takes in $72 million more every year than it pays out. According to a report in Army Times, between 1986 and 1993, the military actually took in $720 million more in non-refundable deposits than they paid out in college benefits.
FACT: When you apply for financial aid, the financial aid office determines your eligibility according to your income. They count payments from the GI Bill as income, so you will actually be less likely to get grants.
FACT: As far as financial aid programs go, the average student is much better off forgetting about the military and taking advantage of programs like the Pell Grant. The paperwork is long, but it's easier than dodging bullets overseas somewhere to keep Halliburton's stock price high.
PROMISE: Join the Reserves or National Guard and you'll only have to serve one weekend a month.
FACT: 40% percent of the soldiers in Iraq today are members of the National Guard or Reserves whose recruiters told them the same thing. Thousands of National Guards and reservists have been called back to active duty since 9/11, and thousands more still will be called to go to Iraq. Many have seen their enlistments and tours of duty extended by stop loss orders.
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PROMISE: The Military takes care of its own with excellent Retirement & Disability Benefits.
FACT: Veterans Benefits have been repeatedly slashed. In March of 2003, just days after the invasion of Iraq, the House of Representatives voted to cut funding for veteran's health care and benefit programs by nearly $25 billion over the next ten years.
FACT: Because of recent budget cuts, the Veterans Administration is charging veterans entering into its system a $250 annual fee in order for them to receive treatment. So if you're injured or disabled while in the military, you are going to have to pay for treatment.
FACT: Budget cuts may force V.A. hospitals across the country to close. Others will be forced to lay off staff, possibly more than 19,000 nurses. The staff reductions will lead to the loss of over 6.6 million outpatient visits. This means that one out of every two veterans could lose their only source of medical care.
FACT: The Pentagon has a history of denying veterans' medical claims.
FACT: Approximately 33% of homeless men in the United States are veterans.
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PROMISE: We’ll give you all this in writing.
FACT: The enlistment document is not a contract. The document itself says Laws and regulations that govern military personnel may change without notice to me. Such changes may affect my status, pay, allowances, benefits, and responsibilities as a member of the Armed Forces regardless of the provisions of this enlistment/reenlistment document. This means that the military has absolutely no obligation to keep any promise made to you. The exciting job the recruiter promised you can be taken away at the convenience of the military. You, on the other hand, agree to give up years of your life, obey orders - including orders to kill, and possibly be killed yourself.
PROMISE: We'll guarantee you the job you want.
FACT: Many young people sign up for one job only to be told later that there are no openings in the field and are then pressured into another field in which the military has a shortage. One soldier told counselors that he was talked into enlisting in order to play in the Army band. He wanted to be a musician, and his recruiter told him that joining the Army was the key to pursuing his dream as a musician while receiving excellent benefits. Once in boot camp, he was told that there were no available positions, and he would instead have to choose to be an infantryman, artillery crew member, or combat engineer. He is now somewhere in Iraq.
PROMISE: You can sign up for only 2 years (or 3, or 4).
FACT: When you enlist, the military reserves the right to extend your term. Despite the stated length of enlistment, recruits can be kept in the military indefinitely, or called back from the reserves many years later, especially as part of the War on Terror, which has no foreseeable end. This is what's been called the back door draft. Thousands have already been subjected to it.
PROMISE: You won't have to go to Iraq.
FACT: There are now more than 130,000 troops in Iraq, many of whom were probably told the same thing. The military is not a jobs program or a financial aid program--the purpose of the military is to wage war.
PROMISE: Try the military out and if you don't like it, tell your drill sergeant and you can get out.
FACT: There is no such provision in the military regulations. It can be very difficult to get out once you are in boot camp. If you're not sure, the best option is to not enlist.
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Why We Fight
Fahrenheit 9/11
Arlington West
Beyond Treason
Sir! No Sir!
Real War Stories
