From Alternet.org:Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted from Army of None: Strategies to Counter Military Recruitment, End War and Build a Better World published by Seven Stories Press, August 2007. Reprinted here by permission of publisher. Copyright © 2007 Aimee Allison and David Solnit
Top military recruitment facts
1. Recruiters lie. According the New York Times, nearly one of five United States Army recruiters was under investigation in 2004 for offenses varying from “threats and coercion to false promises that applicants would not be sent to Iraq.” One veteran recruiter told a reporter for the Albany Times Union, “I’ve been recruiting for years, and I don’t know one recruiter who wasn’t dishonest about it. I did it myself.”
2. The military contract guarantees nothing. The Department of Defense’s own enlistment/re-enlistment document states, “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/re-enlistment document” (DD Form4/1, 1998, Sec.9.5b).
3. Advertised signing bonuses are bogus. Bonuses are often thought of as gifts, but they’re not. They’re like loans: If an enlistee leaves the military before his or her agreed term of service, he or she will be forced to repay the bonus. Besides, Army data shows that the top bonus of $20,000 was given to only 6 percent of the 47,7272 enlistees who signed up for active duty.
4. The military won’t make you financially secure. Military members are no strangers to financial strain: 48 percent report having financial difficulty, approximately 33 percent of homeless men in the United States are veterans, and nearly 200,000 veterans are homeless on any given night.
5. Money for college ($71,424 in the bank?). If you expect the military to pay for college, better read the fine print. Among recruits who sign up for the Montgomery GI Bill, 65 percent receive no money for college, and only 15 percent ever receive a college degree. The maximum Montgomery GI Bill benefit is $37,224, and even this 37K is hard to get: To join, you must first put in a nonrefundable $1,200 deposit that has to be paid to the military during the first year of service. To receive the $37K, you must also be an active-duty member who has completed at least a three-year service agreement and is attending a four-year college full time. Benefits are significantly lower if you are going to school part-time or attending a two-year college. If you receive a less than honorable discharge (as one in four do), leave the military early (as one in three do), or later decide not to go to college, the military will keep your deposit and give you nothing. Note: The $71,424 advertised by the Army and $86,000 by the Navy includes benefits from the Amy or Navy College Fund, respectively. Fewer than 10 percent of all recruits earn money from the Army College Fund, which is specifically designed to lure recruits into hard-to-fill positions.
6. Job training. Vice President Dick Cheney once said, “The military is not a social welfare agency; it’s not a jobs program.” If you enlist, the military does not have to place you in your chosen career field or give you the specific training requested. Even if enlistees do receive training, it is often to develop skills that will not transfer to the civilian job market. (There aren’t many jobs for M240 machine-gunners stateside.)
7. War, combat, and your contract. First off, if it’s your first time enlisting, you’re signing up for eight years. On top of that, the military can, without your consent, extend active-duty obligations during times of conflict, “national emergency,” or when directed by the president. This means that even if an enlistee has two weeks left on his/ her contract (yes, even Guard/Reserve) or has already served in combat, she/he can still be sent to war. More than a dozen U.S. soldiers have challenged “stop-loss” measures like these in court so far, but people continue to be shipped off involuntarily. The military has called thousands up from Inactive Ready Reserve — soldiers who have served, some for as long as a decade, and been discharged. The numbers: twice as many troops are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan per year as during the Vietnam War. One-third of the troops who have gone to Iraq have gone more than once. The highest rate of first- time deployments belongs to the Marine Corps Reserve: almost 90 percent have fought.
Counterrecruitment for a better world
Ready to create a truly grassroots, people powered movement? Anti-war activism is changing. The familiar sights and sounds of large protests are giving way to quieter, but far more resonating, one-on-one work in classrooms, career centers, and communities. Whenever you hear people decry the lack of large-scale protest in the United States, even as the latest polls show more than 60 percent of people are opposed to the current war in Iraq, remember that the model for effectively challenging war is taking a different shape.
People from all walks of life are finding inspiration and success in working locally to educate students and mobilize against military recruitment where it happens. We can see counterrecruitment asserting itself as a viable movement as independently organized actions in Seattle, Austin and Los Angeles contribute to a national context in which public schools around the country limit military recruiter access, a huge success by any measure. Schools and communities are now considering deeper questions about the increasing militarization of our culture and recognizing the need for schools to teach and weave peace into the minds and aspirations of our children. We believe that 100,000 marching one day every six months is not as effective as 1,000 people talking to students every day.
In January 2006 the National Security Advisory Group, which includes former Secretary of Defense William Perry and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, issued a report entitled “The U.S. Military: Under Strain and at Risk.” The report predicted a major recruiting crisis, pointing out that fewer than needed recruits, as well as first-time enlistees, could result in a “hollowing” and imbalance in the Army.
The fact is, at the end of 2005, the active Army fell 6,627 recruits short of its annual goal of 80,000. In addition, the Army Reserve fell 16 percent behind its recruiting target for the year, and the National Guard 20 percent short of its annual goal. Today approximately 9,000 soldiers are not permitted to leave the service because of “stop-loss” orders, which retain soldiers on active duty involuntarily after their period of enlistment is complete. Another 2,000 soldiers have been involuntarily recalled after leaving active Army service.
Despite this compulsory service, the Army Reserve has trouble achieving its target numbers. After the 2005 recruiting disaster, the military pulled out all stops in an effort to “make quota” in 2006. Army brass replaced the Army Recruiting Command’s top officer in October 2005 with Stanford-educated Maj. Gen. Thomas Bostick. “A lot of concerns, I think, that the parents and applicants have are about Iraq and Afghanistan,” Bostick told the Tampa Tribune in October 2006. They also replaced Leo Burnett, their lead public relations agency, who created the “Army of One” campaign, with McCann-Erickson, who after a $200 million contract and year of research came up with “Army Strong” as the new recruiting slogan.
In their comprehensive new strategy, the military added 1,200 new recruiters and spent millions on a public relations blitz that included TV ads, video games, websites, cell phone text messages, helicopter simulators in the back of 18-wheelers, internet chat rooms, sports and public event sponsorships, and even ads on the ticket envelopes for Greyhound Bus lines (“This ticket will take you to where you are going, but the National Guard will take you to where you want to be”).
The Army also increased its relationship with NASCAR, the National Hot Rod Association and the Professional Bull Riders Association. The plan calls for recruiters to visit schools and malls a few days before an event, offering free tickets and the chance to meet famous drivers or bull riders.
In addition, the military dramatically lowered its educational and test standards and other qualifications. The U.S. Army recruited more than 2,600 soldiers under new, lower-aptitude test standards in 2006. They allowed neck and hand tattoos, increased the allowable age to 42, increased the enlistment bonus up to $40,000 and offered $1,000 to soldiers who persuaded friends to sign up. They have granted an unprecedented number of “moral character” waivers; around 17 percent of the first-time recruits, or about 13,600, were accepted under waivers for various medical, moral or criminal problems, including misdemeanor arrests and drunk driving. But even that was not enough to “meet quota.”
So, they also lied. From 2004 to 2005 the Govern ment Accounting Office found 6,600 allegations of recruiter crimes. Incidents included concealing medical information that would disqualify a recruit; making false promises and helping recruits get around test requirements. In 2006 the pressure was even greater, and seen in an ABC television investigation from Nov. 2, 2006, that sent undercover students into ten recruiters’offices in New York and New Jersey.
The program reported that more than half of the recruiters were “stretching the truth or even worse, lying.” They found “nearly half of the recruiters who talked to our under-cover students compared everyday risks here at home to being in Iraq.” A Patchogue recruiter was caught saying. “You have a 10 times greater chance of dying out here on the roads than you do dying in Iraq.”
It also reported that “some recruiters told our students if they enlisted, there was little chance they’d go to war. One recruiter told a student his chances of going to war were “slim to none.”
After all this, the military claims to have met its 2005-2006 goals of recruiting 80,000 people to fill its ranks. It has provided no independent verification of its alleged statistics, but it has launched a major public relations effort to counter the bleak news from the year before.
The Armed Forces Journal reported in March 2006 that recruiters “face an increasingly reluctant pool of potential recruits, opposition from anti-war protesters and perennial bureaucratic inefficiency in the recruitment system.” Scrambling in all of these ways to meet their numbers, the Army, more than ever before, needs fresh blood — recruits straight out of high school.
Is counterrecruitment just a way to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Counterrecruitment is not simply a tactic to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a broad-based, strategic approach to challenging the roots of unending war and militarization. The full potential of a progressive peace and justice movement will only be realized when there is an observable link between efforts to stop war and efforts to address inequality in class, race, ethnicity, immigration status and other socioeconomic factors that determine who ends up being sacrificed in our government’s wars.
As recent statistics demonstrate, there are limits to how far Bush and the neocons can go with their plan for global hegemony when the resources for it are running dangerously low. Fortunately, the peace movement is in a position to further diminish those resources. If we apply ourselves to countering military recruitment, it is in our power to both limit the government’s capacity to wage new wars and build a stronger base to challenge the nation’s spending priorities. Simply put, counterrecruitment is a strategic and effective way to challenge the pro-war, anti-education priorities of our government.
War and empire
As U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler put it in 1933, “There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.”
Racket is one term, empire is another to describe why the U.S. government spends $441 billion a year on a military of over two and a half million soldiers (2,685,713 with reserves), and why it has more than 700 military bases spread across 130 countries with another 6,000 bases in the United States and its “territories.”
Understanding what military recruits are used for in the world, understanding war, and creating viable alternatives to both are essential if we want to break out of the deadlock of militarism. Since the collapse of the “other superpower,” the Soviet Union, “empire” has become a common term among both critics and advocates referring to the unparalleled U.S. system of economic, political, cultural, and military domination of the world. The New York Times Magazine ran a 2003 cover story titled “The American Empire (Get Used to It.)” describing the United States as a reluctant but benevolent global empire. While Bush claimed in his 2004 State of the Union speech, “We have no ambitions of empire,” months later Karl Rove snapped at a New York Times reporter: “‘We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.”
Some see the start of American empire in the wake of Second World War or after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. Others trace it back to the invasion and conquest of numerous indigenous nations in North America from the 17th century onward, the development of a slave economy with tentacles reaching into Africa, and the 1848 seizure of Mexico’s northern half, which is now the Southwest. Another wave of aggression abroad began in the 20th century.
Smedley Butler describes the U.S. military’s role in this emerging empire: “I served in all commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to major general. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high-class muscleman for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.”
The modern-day version of “war as a racket” and gangsterism for capitalism can be seen in the occupation of Iraq. Critics call the U.S. war in Iraq a failure, but behind the scenes, it has established several permanent U.S. military bases, allowed corporations like Halliburton to make billions from unfulfilled contracts to reconstruct war-destroyed schools, hospitals, power systems and infrastructure, and is in the final process of turning control of Iraq’s vast oil resources over to war profiteers such as Chevron.
The U.S. occupation’s “Provisional Authority” under Paul Bremer also laid the legal groundwork for much of the Iraqi economy to be privatized and then taken over by U.S.-based corporations. Thus Butler’s racket and its toll abroad. What does it cost us at home?
The price of two and a half million soldiers, aircraft carriers and military bases across the planet, and a massive array of weapons of mass destruction is high. It saps resources for healthcare, education and housing. It also requires keeping the domestic population in check through propaganda and the corrosion of civil liberties and human rights. Stifling domestic dissent, criminalizing immigrants, and torturing and illegally imprisoning citizens of other nations have all been stepped up under the guise of the so-called War on Terror.
In his book The Empire Has No Clothes: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed, Ivan Eland writes, “Intervention overseas is not needed for security against other nation-states and only leads to blowback from the one threat that is difficult to deter — terrorism.
In short, the U.S. empire lessens American prosperity, power, security and moral standing. It also erodes the founding principles of the American Constitution.” As we write this book (late 2006) nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers and over 200 soldiers from other occupying countries have been killed in Iraq, at least 20,895 U.S. troops have been wounded, and a new Johns Hopkins report puts the number of violent Iraqi civilian deaths since the 2003 invasion at more than 600,000.
War’s side effects are bleak for the environment and human society; its direct and intended effect is mass death. Down the current road of imperial dominance and warfare at will, the use of weapons of mass destruction is nearly inevitable, with apocalyptic consequences.
But there are alternatives to the expense of maintaining a military and the atrocity that is war. One that has been developed over the last 50 years is called social defense. Brian Martin, Australian scholar and author of Social Defense: Social Change, describes social defense as unarmed “community resistance to aggression as an alternative to military defense. It is based on widespread protest, persuasion, noncooperation and intervention in order to oppose military aggression or political repression. There have been numerous nonviolent actions, to be sure, some of them quite spectacular, such as the Czechoslovak resistance to the 1968 Soviet invasion, the toppling of the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines in 1986, the Palestinian Intifada from 1987 to 1993 and the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989.”
Imagine if even a fraction of the resources put into military defense were available for the general population to organize social defense.
Replacing global empire with domestic democracy and well-being requires redefining democracy — pursuing ways to shift decision making and power from corporations and government to “we the people.” It’s not enough just to oppose something.
We need to envision, educate about, and then actually organize alternatives to the system of empire and war, to corporations, and to the lack of democratic participation in decisions that shape our lives and communities. What begin as pragmatic actions, like keeping youth from joining the military, are most effective when they have as their end the transformation of the root causes of war, undemocratic governance, and injustice. Every immediate action, when understood and explained as part of a bigger picture, can be another step toward this longer-term goal of getting to the roots of our problems and building a better world.
Today’s movement
Arlene Inouye, who began her activism during Vietnam, continues her work today in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where she founded the Coalition Against Militarism in our Schools (CAMS). Her support of a bright, young student named Sal illustrates how counterrecruitment works simultaneously to resist war and build alternatives.
Arlene says, “Sal is a bright JROTC student who lacked support for success in school and beyond. His father was deported to Mexico about two years ago, and he was told by the military recruiter that if Sal enlisted, his father could come back to the United States. His father begged him to enlist after high school. Sal later learned that the military was lying and that he couldn’t help his father come home.”
During the spring of 2006 there were student walkouts and marches supporting immigrant rights throughout Los Angeles. Arlene explains, “The activism around immigrant rights helped Sal to see the hypocrisy of fighting in a military that is being sent to the border and has been reported to shoot down undocumented people who try to cross.
“During a rally, Sal took off his JROTC uniform in front of the press, encouraging other students to resist war and drop out of JROTC. Unfortunately, most won’t because of concerns about their grades. This student who is articulate and smart is failing school and lacks the support he needs. I have mobilized help for him at the school and call him regularly. He just got back from a peace camp given by our partner organization, and that was a powerful experience for him.”
Creating a supportive community to enable Sal’s dissent, and help him forge an alternative path, is at the heart of counterrecruitment. As demonstrated by Sal’s example, the best movement is as much about envisioning and building a new world as it is about resisting the injustices of this one.
For more information on Army of None, visit the website.
Army veteran Aimee Allison has led school and community counterrecruitment activities over the last decade. David Solnit is the editor of Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World. For more information on Army of None, visit the website.
© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/62945/
September 26, 2007 at 10:03 pm |
Please have any of your website browsers email me or call me if they would like to actually talk to a real 36 year old Army guy from VA who was a recruiter for 36 months in Los Angeles, CA. I would love to have a dialogue on anything recruiting related.
October 6, 2007 at 3:55 pm |
Its funny how you fail to mention the if you qualify comments for the ACF. The MGIB is very clear on how it works 12 cedit hour will get you your sum stated for that month. and why your 1/4 or 1/3 get out forfieting there benifits well, that is simple, they may have done drugs, assualted someone, or any other violation of the UCMJ. get your facts right before you continue to embarass yourself.
November 11, 2007 at 11:34 pm |
I am not a recruiter but I have served in the Army for 18 years. I used my GI Bill benefits to pay for my degree and so have other countless other soldiers I know. These benefits are guaranteed to you and the terms of how the money is payed is straight foward. For you to sit here and say the majority of people never receive their benefits is false. The only way you don’t receive the benefits is choosing to not use them or be dischardged under less than honorable conditions. And by the way, the job you choose when you enlist is the job you train for. I have not met anyone in the Army who did’t receive the training for the job they choose (it is in writing). It sounds like this website has its own issues with omitting facts and stretching the truth.
December 13, 2007 at 5:57 pm |
My boyfriend is in the Army Reserves and got home from training in July. He was promised a 10,000 $ bonus when he was done. It is now December, its almost been a half a year, and still no bonus. I’m starting to believe its a lie.
December 17, 2007 at 7:07 pm |
I served in the Army and paid money into the GI Bill. After discharge I filed to collect and was denied. I ended up getting enough money from Pell grants, but that was years ago. Now the Bush Admn. has cut Pell grant funding. What are the kids to do now?
And you’re dead on about the recruiters lying. They are very, very slick. Do not believe a word they say. They will take you to lunch, buy you a pop and give you candy, no shit. Then you’re screwed for eight years when you thought it was for three or four. Go to college instead.
January 10, 2008 at 8:15 pm |
I don’t know when 47,7272 enlistees signed up, but you guys need to check that stuff. You’re talking about serious life issues. The Army has not had 47K joining for many years. All services (reserve included) have not had 477K join in a single year ever.
1 in four enlistees getting out with less than honorable is not true. 1 in 3 getting out early included people getting out to go to college or attend West Point as well as switching to another service, but is still completely false.
Lastly, there are only seven “lies” recruiters tell. How can that be the top ten. This is the simply the most poorly prepared webpage I have ever visited. Thank you for your time, and I’m proud to serve my country to continue giving you the right to whine about it.
P.S. If no one enlists, you will be drafted. You really ought to reconsider your idiocy!
January 10, 2008 at 8:17 pm |
By the way, “sam”. If you didn’t get your GI Bill, please contact the VA. If they’re no help, contact me. My email is sgtsteve1775@cs.com. Either you got kicked out or denied your benefits before you paid for them. I would be happy to help you out as best I can.
April 1, 2008 at 1:53 pm |
This site is run by and for pussy wimps. Grow some balls or leave america faggots
April 7, 2008 at 12:17 pm |
I have served this country and you for over 20 years, 11 years spent outside the Unites States, my wife has served over six years in the Army and is now in the Air National Guard, she deployed and was not even an american citizen.
Your site is not telling the truth, you must have done very little work to come up with the information you put on here, your data is way off.
I believe in peace and I also believe that most in the military do also, I think it is ashame that you want to bring up your children believing that this world of ours is a safe place, it’s not I have traveled all over it.
My wife is going to college for nursing and the military is paying 100% tuition and over $1,850.00 per month for 48 months of college, she has earned this by serving this country.
If you want to tell lies then keep up the good work if you want to tell the truth then make sure you research the truth, you owe it to your followers.
We will see if you print this.
April 26, 2008 at 9:24 pm |
SFC Steve said on January 10, 2008 at 8:15 pm:
> Thank you for your time, and I’m proud to serve my
> country to continue giving you the right to whine about it.
Dear SFC Steve – Thank you for your service. My only reason for coming to this web page is that my 17 yr old is saying he wants to enlist, and I am doing research. Knowing the dire straits of the current military (without a draft), I suspect all recruiters, because I know they are desparate.
You are serving your country to maintain our right to whine about it–yes. I ask that you consider what our President has been doing for the past 8 years. No administration has ever done as much to destroy our Constitutional rights that this one. Fourth Amendment? Nearly wiped out. Habeas Corpus? Wiped out for some, and can be single-handedly wiped out by the President for all–without Congressional approval. Military Commissions Act, etc. it is all in danger. Personally I want our military men and women to know that while you are fighting for our “freedom”, the government is doing its best to take it away.
Thank you and God bless.
June 1, 2008 at 12:30 pm |
Great site. Thanks for visiting mine. Have put a link to yours so other will know of your site.
Hunterseeker
July 1, 2008 at 3:09 am |
I’m a woman who served 10 years in the Army. You guys who started this website are a bunch of sissy punks who are too scared to get off your mommy’s breast and do something besides whine about things you know NOTHING about. You would get your ass beat by the real men AND women in the Army. I spent ten years defending your right to be stupid scared Punks! Next time, check your “statistics” and facts before you decide to talk shit. I hate loosers like you.
July 4, 2008 at 6:01 am |
I always hear from military people that they have been defending our rights, but while they were busy invading Iraq (who never attacked us), our Constitutional rights were lost at home. How do they plan to get them back?
July 7, 2008 at 8:13 pm |
Most of you are full of you know what…no bonus well lets see he could get a bonus if he scored high enough on the AQFT and qualified for that job. Goes to the MEPS flunks out and scores 49 or below no bonus and has to pick a different job and crys foul on the recruiter, not his fault you cant pass a simple test of intelligence. Also if the only reason you are joining the Army is to receive a bonus well dont bonus goes away college gets boring and all you do anyway is complain and try to find ways to cost the taxpayer money to lie yourself out of the Army…IF YOU SERVE, SERVE BECAUSE YOU ARE SERVING THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH AND YOU ARE PROUD!!!!!!OH YEAH YOU CAN WRITE THIS WITHOUT FEAR OF SOMEONE COMING INTO YOUR HOME AND CUTTING OUT YOUR TONGUE BECAUSE WHAT WE DO…AND MARTHA YOU OBVIOUSLY NEED TO GET OFF YOUR FATA$$ AND DO SOMETHING STOP PUTTING OFF ON ANOTHER PERSON THATS YOUR PROBLEMS NOW
July 20, 2008 at 6:03 am |
“Don’t Enlist, Resist”…..Where do you find these words from the “Cracker Jack Box”. First, I have been in the United States Army for 22 years. That’s right 22 years since I was 18 years old after high school. Am I a dumb guy, not really cause I was offered two scholarships upon graduation of my high that I attended. Sure the recruiters will say some things, but you also have to do your homework before saying “Sign me up”. Especially nowadays. Back in my day we didn’t have Google or a computer like most household families have. I wasn’t a rich kid, so their were a few reasons why I join: 1) Wanted to travel the world-I did(1st assignment after basic and AIT was Germany), 2) Maturity and wisdom for the first 3 years(Contract), 3) Education (College). I wasn’t whining about deploying or going to war. Back than Russia was still kicking. I (Re-enlist) again for a $20,000 dollar bonus. And yes I receive half after my school and $2,000 dollar for the next five years. Did I know I was going to the Gulf War after I receive that Big Bonus??? Not at all….Did I complain, not at all. I am a third generation of my family that has serve or is still serving in the military. You are always going to have Wars, Conflicts or problems in any country. Deploying happens….And some still haven’t deployed in 25 years…. I have been 7-8 times already.
Bottom line is this:
1) Job Security
Promotions
2) Education
3) Medical and Dental Benefits
4) Decent Pay
5) Traveling (Germany, France, England, South America, Asia just a few to mention)
6) Meeting new people
7) Maturity/Wisdom
9) Parties
10) Deploying(Tax Free on your pay, receive more pay, and fighting for a cause)
I know some of you don’t agree on many of my areas that I brought up. Which is find. I have been in a very long, long time. And yes, I will retire and no I wont have to work at Wal-Mart as a “Greeter”.
August 12, 2008 at 11:26 pm |
these are the men and women defending your country and your right to live and be free. defending the right for u to be even writein this shit and not have a bullet in your head. u daisy pick tree luggers need a reality check if we didnt have a army u would be dead or running and hiding for your life. u better be glad we have soldiers. And for the record i going to become one so hate it im the reason your alive u bitch.
September 9, 2008 at 7:21 pm |
It’s sad that so many Americans spend so much time trying to find reasons not to serve our country. It disgusts me when I see things like this. So many people turn their noses up at the thought of them or their kids joining the military. Yet, you want to live in this country and receive all of the freedoms most of the world doesn’t. You also feel that this is an entitlement and not a right. What if everyone that does serve felt this way? We would not have a great all volunteer Army. We as Americans can be so spoiled and self-centered sometimes. I think it should be mandatory in this country that everyone serve at least 2 years in the military. You shouldn’t get to sit back on your lazy scary asses and receive the privileges of this country for free. Cowards. I served 4 years and will be re-enlisting when I complete my degree next summer paid for by…….OMG the G.I. Bill! My husband continues to serve on his 10th year. I’ve been to Iraq once and he’s been twice. As a former soldier myself I’ve heard so many soldiers who after joining claim…my recruiter lied to me about this or that. Their claims actually don’t even turn out to be lies. Things like, “I got this shitty job, he didn’t even offer me the good jobs”. Well, guess what you have to have a qualifying score to even be considered for those jobs. If you weren’t offered them, the standards say you probably weren’t capable. Most of them just get to basic and can’t cut it and say anything including lying on their recruiter to get out. I don’t care what anyone says, there isn’t another job with more pride, experiences, or benefits in this country than the military. Whether you’re using it as a stepping stone or as a career path. If more people enlisted the damn unemployment rate wouldn’t be so high, and I wouldn’t be paying taxes supporting others. Get off of it.
October 14, 2008 at 12:55 am |
Are whining about how nobody appreciates you, equating service to the political class with service to the country, using poor grammar, and calling people who disagree with you wimps instead of making logical arguments the kind of skills you learn in the military? Or are they just the only way you can support absurd claims like saying a tool of imperialism is a good thing?
The US military does not protect freedom. It is part of the United States government, the institution that does the most harm to the freedom and prosperity of Americans. It is supported by theft and exploitation called taxation and economic policy. It is a driving force in the global military empire that bankrupts America and inspires foreigners to target Americans for murder. And yes, military recruiters often lie.
I support the troops who renounce the war machine in thought and action.
October 14, 2008 at 2:35 am |
[...] updating the flyer, I came across a blog post on counter-recruitment. In case you are unaware, counter-recruitment is a direct action strategy to [...]
October 30, 2008 at 12:48 am |
Let’s cut the shit: you will get money from the federal government if you sign a contract that says you get that money. If you do not get that money, join the lawsuit and plan on waiting for about five years before you see any of that money (if ever).
If you’re thinking about joining for money, you’re like the vast majority of high school graduates in that you’re unsure about your future and how you’re going to attain your goals, and the military seems to offer job experience and adventure. If you want adventure and to serve your community, become a fire fighter! Become a paramedic! And with all irony intended: become a job counselor!
When my head drill sergeant asked how many out of my platoon joined for the money, almost everyone raised their hand and the rest were lying. (If you happen to be a flag-waving kill-’em-all type, seek professional counseling as soon as possible; you are psychotic, uninformed, and likely need medication. Alcohol works for most.)
But before you enlist out of high school, consider a few things:
1. Your recruiter has a quota to meet and doesn’t give a flying fuck about you. The entire goal of the recruiter is to maintain or increase the productivity in his or her area of responsibility (say, a school district) and unless you happen to be recruited by someone other than a careerist, the future of his or her career is entirely contingent upon either happening to find a fat target like a flag-waving kid whose mother didn’t graduate from college (the Dept of Defense does market research like any other private corporation; the factors I’ve listed here, along with English proficiency, are a few of the major things that the DoD thinks makes you a fat target), or to convince you that you need the military to fulfill your goals.
2. If you do the math, you will be paid less than minimum wage; pay raises for enlisted soldiers haven’t kept up with inflation for years. This is something that a few of my friends and I realized when I was in Iraq, so that’s including hazardous duty pay and all the extra goodies. This is probably true for several ranks beyond that of E-4 (my rank at the time).
3. There are other ways of getting money for college and the only thing you need to do to find these resources is talk to your school counselor or, better yet, do the research yourself. If you’ve kept your grades up, done fairly well on the SAT/ACT, and done a little bit of community service, for the love of all that is holy GO TO COLLEGE!
4. The skills that you learn in the military are very rarely directly applicable towards the industry to which you may think it does when your recruiter is sweet talking you. (Some notable exceptions to this include obtaining some kind of paramedic certification for the 91A/W MOS.) There are entire books written on how to “adapt” military MOS training to the “civilian side” (like when you’re trying to write a resume in after you ETS in six years); being a guardsman avoids this issue somewhat but there are other considerations even if you think this is going to be your path (some listed below).
5. GO TO COLLEGE!
There’s an entirely different set of considerations beyond the most common fiscal ones I’ve addressed above:
1. You may be put in situations in which your survival instincts are not compatible with your personal morality or ethical guides (Example: Maintain a checkpoint at which there is a real possibility that you will accidentally fire on civilians because of the perceived threat that a speeding vehicle represents; something for which you will not likely be punished, but will live with for the rest of your life.).
2. You will likely be asked to participate in what has been agreed upon by the vast majority of international rule of law experts to be an illegal occupation (Iraq, in case you’re not up on current events.). In fact, this isn’t just likely, it is damned near certain. It is even more certain that you will in some way materially support the occupation. In other words, according to international law and the treaties to which the US is bound via the Constitution, you will be considered a war criminal. Prosecution, however, is less likely; if you want to be a criminal and actually make money, become an entrepreneur like TuPac or Al Capone.
3. If you are female, you will be sexually harassed. There is no way of avoiding this fact (although some cope with it by ignoring it or denying it). The instance of rape among military personnel is far higher than among the general US population for both men and women. The numbers are at http://www.stopmilitaryrape.org.
4. The military will put you where they want you, and do with you what they want because when you sign your enlistment contract you (your body–fingernails, skin, hair, reproductive organs, etc.) become government property. If you get a sunburn, for example, you won’t necessarily but can be punished for damaging government property (just one example).
5. GO TO FUCKING COLLEGE! Or, learn a trade, join a union, and do what my buddy did and make more money than most 1st-year college graduates can even dream of! The possibilities for your life are so endless you would–at the very least–be wasting 8 years of your life by signing such a bullshit contract (every contract is for 8 years, by the way).
And as for the jokers (some have posted above) that think that they can logically reconcile the fact that they’re soaking up federal funding by being in the military and therefore supporting the most inefficient and costly US enterprise–the occupations of Iraq/Afghanistan and their $3 trillion price tag–you are the true enemy of the people that want this country to be truly free, and I hope one day you can pierce the thick layer of denial that your lifestyle has developed (an ontological trait allowed by some creative blaming, might I add) because I know that these few words won’t do anything but enrage you much like fire enrages zombies. SLOGANEERING IS FOR SOPHOMORIC OSTRICHES; YOU ARE THE ENEMY!
And if you’re a veteran and think the war is bullshit (and have read this far!) try reading Gen. Smedley Butler for starters. He’s a kick and funny, too. He was at the trail end of the anti-imperialist movement that gained momentum when the US went to war with Spain over the Philippines, etc. Dedicated patriots like him were gradually weeded out, and now look where we are!
March 10, 2009 at 10:16 pm |
I HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO FULLY GO THROUGH THIS ENTIRE SITE. IN FACT, I RAN INTO IT BY ACCIDENT. I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THIS, THOUGH…
I AM IN TOTAL AGREEMENT WITH THIS WEBSITE. THERE SHOULD BE NO RECRUITERS FOR ANY BRANCH.
WE SHOULD JUST START DRAFTING AND END ALL THE CONFUSION!
March 12, 2009 at 2:45 am |
People, stop arguing. Nobody will ever agree with one another, that’s part of human nature, but at least we can learn to co-operate with one another. Through co-operation, we will prospher. Do you think that the founding fathers of the USA, sat around saying, “No,sir the army lies”, or “The Army is giving you your rights”. No they did not, even though they had many disagreements, they came together, had deliberate discussions and debates, and formed this great country we call the United States of America. Yeah so we may have had some outstanding conflicts with certain groups of people or individuals, but in the end we come together and grow from it. All i’m trying to say is, leave the high School attitude in High School and grow up and support your country, and if you don’t like something about what is going on in it, don’t sit back and complain irritably, go out and voice your opinion. Although it may not change the world in your eyes, you may be influencing the younger generations, like me to go out and voice our opinions.
Thanks for everyone’s time
U.S. Army recruit-2009
March 24, 2009 at 12:23 am |
Darien W
I dare you to tell a Soldier or a Marine that they do not defend our country and I will guarentee that you will have to defend yourself
April 19, 2009 at 3:00 pm |
this page is ridiculus…. I love this country and fighting for its freedom.. i also beleive in freedom of press… but to publish something public and it not be true should be punishable…i your stats are not up to par then dont publish it!!! if you are going to influence some weak minded perosn opinion have the moral obligation to make sure u got your facts straigh, idiot
July 2, 2009 at 12:44 am |
An Army recruiter stole my 17 yr old son. I would not consider this recruiter a “Soldier” I feel he is an “Enemy”. He lied to my son with unrealistic promises such as a high paying job, bonuses, lap tops and so on. He was so slick as he was able to manipulate my son in to thinking that his own mother was “sick, dumb and stupid”. If the recruiters are in such a need to make money they should consider encouraging the government to utilize US jailed criminals to join the Army. If they need killers and persons in need of money they have both in one shot. Finally, if the Army was so wonderful with so many wonderful benefits why are the recruiters trying to make money through lying to our children. I hope they all rot in hell!!
July 13, 2009 at 4:59 pm |
Why is it that the students, enrolled in college along with me, don’t have their tuition and fees already paid and the term is nearly over? I am using Tuition Assistance….haven’t touched my GI Bill. When I do use the GI Bill, as so mamny others are doing, I will receive between 1500 – 1700 per month. I have served 23 years and my brother is also on active duty. I could have retired three years ago; but why? I have a job with great benefits and pay….compare them…..really! There will always be liars… recruiters, parents, preachers, teachers and….let’s not forget the applicants. There is always a chance of being killed. I was driving home from work yesterday when a driver decided to overtake me on the right as I proceeded into my right turn off of the highway. He asumed, I believe, that I was turning left…the right blinker must have confused him. I don’t know if it was the sun in his eyes or the fact he was travelling about 90 MPH…but he could have surely killed me. It’s safer on the ships. Come on folks…..our starting pay is public knowledge. Our benefits are governed by the VA…not Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. Let your kids become men and women….. If you serve, Thanks! If you choose not to serve, Thanks! Isn’t Freedom a blessing?
September 14, 2009 at 8:29 pm |
Unfortunately, a lot of current and prior military have gotten caught in the trap of military lies and deceit! These people have TOO MUCH pride and will not stand up and admit that the military DENIES BENEFITS for any possible reason. They feel duped and ashamed of their stupidity; therefore they want you to join in their misery! MISERY LOVES COMPANY! Why are there so many homeless veterans on the streets of any given city if all they had to do was go to school courtesy of the GI Bill? Recruiters LIE! The money allotted by the GI Bill (which you have to pay into) isn’t enough to scratch the surface of a 4-year stay at a university! There is NO such thing as a PART-TIME WAR! You will go to war and the possibility of dying is very real! 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year of bullshit! Guardsmen make up OVER 50% of the soldiers & troops deployed to war zones! Since when is 6-18 months of dodging bullets considered “part-time”? IF you join the military–YOU WILL LOSE! Don’t say you weren’t warned!
October 5, 2009 at 8:40 am |
Look at all the army guys getting cheesed off. If you were any smarter, you would not post your names with affiliation to the army because you already show bias. And its especially idiotic to do so while responding to an article that calls you guys liars. It is also stated that you guys have a motive to lie because you didn’t meet your quotas for the given years…I don’t think anyone who just finished reading the article is going to believe what you say…even if its true.
Oh and by the way, just because you “know a lot of guys” who reaped the benefits of the military, statistically speaking, they are just the minority…
October 6, 2009 at 5:59 am |
Haha, I find it funny that a lot of these high brow and sophisticated army people are calling American citizens pussies and wimps. Just to let you guys know, you are fighting for us, for our rights to be what we want and say what we want, even if that means bashing on you guys for being both idiots and illiterates. Therefore, no matter what you say or call us, you make yourselves look bad! Jokes on you!