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Military Service in the United States

The United States Constitution does not address military conscription. Compulsory military service is addressed in the Military Selective Service Act, which requires all males between the ages of 18 and 26 to register for compulsory military service (50 App. U.S.C., par. 453). The US Congress has the right to introduce compulsory military service for those registered if they think the national security necessitates forces greater than the regular armed forces (par. 451(d)).[1]

The right of the government to raise and maintain an army, including the right to conscript, has been recognized and upheld by the courts. While military service presently is voluntary, all 18-year-old youth are required to register with the Selective Service System, the civilian agency charged with conducting a military draft when required by law. The Military Selective Service Act provides for military conscription.

Enlistment in the armed forces is allowed from the age of 17.

Although enlistment in the armed forces is voluntary, the number of people from the lower social-economic classes in the armed forces is disproportionally high. In the US peace movement this is referred to as `the poverty draft'. Likewise, the number of coloured people in the armed forces is also disproportionally high. Recent reports indicate that this trend is changing. The number of young black men who consider a full-time career in the armed forces has declined with 59 percent since 1989. The number of young white men considering such a career has also dropped, but only by 19 percent[2].

The Selective Service System

According to the Military Selective Service Act, all men born on or after 1^st January 1963 are obliged to register "during the sixty days beginning thirty days before the eighteenth anniversary of their birth" and thereafter to notify the Selective Service authorities within ten days of any change of address up to the 26^th birthday.

The Military Selective Service Act does not provide for registration as conscientious objector, or any special procedures for conscientious objectors. According to Conscience and Peace Tax International: "The significance is that no one liable to register may legally refrain from doing so on grounds of conscientious objection. Nor under the reintroduced registration system is there any way to be officially classified as claiming conscientious objector status at the time of registration, which had in fact previously been the obligatory time for lodging such a claim. The result is that those whose consciences will not permit them to register have no choice but to break the law."[3]

Refusing to register for compulsory military service is punishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment and a USD 250,000 fine. Moreover, those who fail to register are denied federal financial aid for education and for job training[4]. There is a limitation of five years for the bringing of a prosecution, ie. until the age of 31. In fact, historically, prosecution has generally been treated as a last resort, and has not been pursued once the legal obligation itself has been met, even belatedly. There have been no convictions for failure to register since 1985[5].

In practice, registration is enforced by the denial of benefits which are available to other citizens. Those who have not registered are not eligible for federal loans or grants for higher education, for federally-funded job training, or for most federal employment. The federal government has also encouraged state and municipal legislatures to enact similar legislation. As of August 2004, at least 20 of the fifty states (23 according to the Selective Service Agency) required those eligible to be registered for the draft as a precondition of receiving state finance for higher education and 17 states would not employ unregistered persons in any capacity. Nine states debarred unregistered men from admission to state colleges or universities. States have also been encouraged to make registration a precondition for the issue of a driving licence, or a state sanctioned photographic ID; and, again as of August 2004, 21 and the Virgin Islands Territory had done so, and in Illinois the necessary legislation was awaiting the Governor's approval. Eleven further states, plus the District of Colombia and the Territory of Guam had linked the procedure for application for a driving licence to draft registration for those who were not already registered, but most did not make this mandatory. In all, only 11 of the 50 states made no linkage between draft registration and higher education, state employment or the issue of driving licences; in thirteen there was linkage in all three areas[6].

Military Recruitment Practices

Besides military registration, the practice of military recruitment is a reason for concern. The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by President George Bush on January 8, 2002. It is an elaborate reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 that, among other things, initially offered grants to low income school areas and established the federal lunch and milk programs. In spite of the new act's overwhelming support by Washington legislators and policy makers, it is starting to come under fire for a well-hidden section entitled Sec. 9528. Armed Forces Recruiter Access to Students and Student Recruiting Information.

The section grants military recruiters access to students' private information. With this access, recruiters can make unsolicited calls and send direct-mail recruitment literature to a young person's home. Parents, students, public education activists and those working to demilitarize the nation's schools are beginning to see the legislated "open door" policy for military recruiters as a clear violation of the Privacy Act of 1974.

The act's coercive language forces schools and institutions receiving assistance under the act to comply with its directive. Non-compliance means that schools could face the relinquishment of federal funding.

The act includes a so-called "opt out" clause, which states, "(2) CONSENT - A secondary school student or the parent of the student 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."

This clause, however, is controversial due to its vagueness about how an educational institution must inform parents and students of the option. Many schools, however, are not complying with the privacy clause or are burying the privacy notice within start-of-school info packets without a thorough explanation to parents and students of the packet's contents. School districts around the country are not using a uniform system to let parents know about the act. As a result many parents may never find out that their information is being handed over to the military[7].

In addition, the US military offers schools their ASVAB test, which in fact is the admissions and placement test for the US military. These tests are provided to schools free of charge. ASVAB is a three-hour test that consists of 10 sections: Word Knowledge; Paragraph Comprehension; Arithmetic Reasoning; Mathematics Knowledge; General Science; Auto and Shop Information; Mechanical Comprehension; Electronics Information; Numerical Operations; and Coding Speed. The ASVAB is supposed to look for talent and natural skills in subject areas that are considered important for different military jobs.

Scores from selected individual sections of the test are combined according to a certain formula to come up with a measure known as AFQT - Armed Forces Qualifying Test. Congress has established minimum AFQT scores for admission to the military. Standards vary according to whether a person has a high school diploma, a GED, or has not graduated from high school.

The military uses ASVAB to do targeted recruitment of young people. Recruiters give special attention to students in the 11^th or 12^th grade who meet minimum standards - what they refer to as "pre-qualified leads." They use test information (scores, name, address, etc.) to identify and reach young people they hope to sign up. Recruiters contact these young people by letters, phone calls, and visits to home and school. Students may receive calls from recruiters even if they say they are not interested in joining the military. One often-used tactic is to leave a message for a student telling him/her of an appointment with a recruiter, even if the student didn't ask for one.

While the military has encouraged schools to have all students take the ASVAB, students cannot be forced to give this kind of personal information to the military. Unfortunately some schools tell students that they must take the test or may try to coerce them (harassment, ridicule, counselors telling students they won't help them in other ways if they don't take the ASVAB). While schools may require their students to take an assessment test approved by the state, there is no legal requirement that students take the ASVAB[8].

Harassment of counter-recruitment activists

United States Federal statute 18 U.S.C $2388 deals with "activities affecting armed forces during war: ... Whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully causes or attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or willfully obstructs the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, to the injury of the service or the United States, or attempts to do so - Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both"[9]. A similar criminal statute exists in Florida - nothing is know about statutes in other states.

Although prosecution under these statutes did not happen since the 1940s, and the statutes can be considered unconstitutional according to present day standards[10], the existence of these statutes might deter counter-recruitment activists.

However, more worrying than statutes on the books that are not being used is existing harassment of counter-recruitment activists, who try to protest against or provide counter-information to the presence of US military recruiters in High Schools or on university campuses. A few examples are given below:

Three City College of New York (CCNY) students and one staff member were arrested for taking part in a peaceful protest against military recruiters at a campus career fair in March 2005. The private security officials assaulted Justino Rodriguez and Nicholas Bergreen, and each suffered minor concussions and deep bruises. The university has also suspended a third student, Hadas Their, for simply taking photographs of the demonstration. Witnesses recall the guards pulling out Their's hair during the arrest.
All three were charged with misdemeanour counts of assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, and disturbing the peace. Two days later, CCNY staff member Carol Lang was arrested at work and charged with assault in connection with the protest[11].
In early March, more than 150 San Francisco State University (SFSU) students joined Students Against War and other groups to protest the presence of military recruiters at a school-sponsored career fair. The crowd flooded the fair, surrounding the recruitment tables. When Air Force recruiters tried to wait out the protest, students staged a peaceful anti-war sit-in and teach-in. The following day, recruiters returned to the SFSU career fair. As soon as two activists entered the career fair, eight police officers forcibly removed them from the student centre, pushing them and twisting one activist's arm. When the other activist asked why she was being forced to leave, she was pushed into a doorway, told she was causing a fire hazard by standing there, and then kicked out of the building.
In the weeks following the action, a number of members of Students Against War received official "notices of appointment" from the administration. The letters stated that complaints had been received and that each student must meet individually with Judicial Affairs. The letters specified that the meetings must be confidential and failed to inform the students of the nature of the offences against them[12].
At UW-Madison 25 students were threatened with arrest if they continued to peacefully protest military and CIA recruiters at their school's career fair, even though no police officer or administrator was able to show them a campus rule they were violating.
On Thursday, September 29, 2005, 30 Holyoke Community College (HCC) students engaged in a peaceful picket of the Army National Guard recruiting table in the school's cafeteria, organized by the HCC Anti-War Coalition, a chapter of the Campus Antiwar Network.
The police assault began after Peter Mascaro, the head of campus security, snatched a homemade sign reading "Cops are hypocrites" from a student's hands, calling it "inappropriate." Officer Scott Landry then grabbed the student and, joined by three other officers, lifted him off the ground and assaulted him. When other students came to his defense, Landry then grabbed another student, Charles Peterson -- who witnesses describe as playing a moderating role throughout the protest -- put him in a headlock, and sprayed mace in his face. Around 20 state police armed in riot gear and gas masks then arrived in the cafeteria. When one student tried to leave, he found 10 to 15 police officers pointing their guns at him. Only with difficulty were the protesters able to peaceably disperse.

The above mentioned harassment of counter-recruitment activists constitutes a violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

Article 19, paragraph 2: "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice."
Article 21: "The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."

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