My old friend Leonard McNeil just published this commentary in the Contra Costa Times arguing against military recruitment in the schools.  Leonard is on the Vice-Mayor of San Pablo, California and was my military counselor back in the day. He’s been making this argument for decades - and has been most recently joined by the largest teachers union in the UK. 

Guest commentary — Don’t allow military recruiting in schools

Article Launched: 04/04/2008 01:34:50 PM PDT; Original article at http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_8812612?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com

THE PRESENCE of military recruiters in our schools gives credence to the notion that participating in the indiscriminate violence of war is a viable career option. Society counts on our schools to provide a positive environment for learning and social development.

Military recruitment, testing and training are not consistent with the educational mission of schools.

Our educational system has been effectively militarized with recruiters having widespread access to school facilities, student records and to students themselves.

The U.S. armed forces are using public high schools as primary recruiting grounds. Under No Child Left Behind, school districts are compelled to provide the nation’s 14,000 military recruiters with student’s names, addresses and phone numbers unless parents/guardians choose to opt out.

The military spends more than $2 billion to persuade young men and women to join its ranks through radio, television, magazine, billboard and newspaper ads, and the Internet.

The U.S. armed forces use cash enlistment bonuses, money for college, opportunities for adventure and travel to entice impressionable recruits.

Undocumented youth are targeted for enlistment with promises of citizenship. The Junior Reserved Officer Training Corps (JROTC) is operating in nearly 1,700 high schools. Approximately 45 percent of the participants enlist in the military. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is used to identify and explore potential military occupations and provide a source of “pre-qualified leads.”

While women and black enlistees are decreasing, the Pentagon is honing in on Latinos who comprise 16 percent of the 17-to-21-year-old population.

The values of the military, which emphasize blind obedience, hierarchy and conformity with established procedures are basically incompatible with the values of our educational system, which stresses self-discipline, the free exchange of ideas and diversity of behavior and opinion.

Our schools should not be serving the Department of “Defense.” Often as not, youths only hear the armed forces’ point of view regarding military enlistment.

The issues of fighting, killing and dying are rarely discussed by military recruiters during their contact with youths. A class in conscientious objection ought to be added to the curriculum in secondary schools.

Young people cannot make career choices freely when the military spends taxpayers’ money on slick advertising campaigns to lure low-income and non-white youths faced with the prospect of fewer employment options with the “glamour” of a military career.

Defense Department population studies verify that most recruits are drawn from lower socio-economic backgrounds in the so-called volunteer military. The overwhelming majority of military jobs have no civilian transference.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to stop military recruiting in our schools is the existence of widespread fraud and malpractice by recruiters.

The General Accountability Office found that recruiters have engaged in sexual harassment, strong-arm tactics, falsification of documents and helping high school students cheat on entrance exams as reported by the New York Times in order to meet enlistment goals.

Improprieties are considered to be much higher because the armed forces do not track such cases. Selling military jobs is a deceptive, bait and switch enterprise and our educational system should not be party to selling snake oil to our young men and women.

The military exists to carry out U.S. foreign policy; it is not a job training corps. The military’s sole reason is to prepare for and wage war.

McNeil is vice mayor of San Pablo