MILITARY SERVICE, RECRUITMENT, & ENLISTMENT; DRAFT REGISTRATION; CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION

This information is divided into sections as follows:

- New England military counselors' network

- Friends' discernment of personal nonviolence

- Some basic information on registration and enlistment

- Guide to internet resources

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MILITARY COUNSELORS' NETWORK

At its meeting on Committee Day, September 29th, the New England Yearly Meeting's Peace and Social Concerns Committee approved working, in conjunction with American Friends Service Committee, to set up a network in New England of people 1) willing and prepared to provide draft and military counseling and/or 2) willing to maintain a file of current information, including referrals to counselors, for individuals who might have questions regarding draft registration, a potential draft, conscientious objection, and issues arising after entering the military. We ask that Friends and Friends Meetings assist in this traditional Quaker effort by:

-- notifying those in your Meeting about this endeavor,

-- seeking volunteers to provide counseling, from your Meetings and elsewhere in your communities;

-- seeking volunteers who will be sent a packet of information and be willing to be listed as resource people,

--- encouraging Friends to become trained draft and military counselors and contacting Robert Dove at AFSC-NERO to learn about future training sessions
-- considering paying expenses of those who attend from your Meeting or community, and
-- considering making an extra contribution to AFSC-NERO to help pay the costs of materials to be included in the packets, postage, and other expenses of this special project.

Individuals who wish to participate in any way should notify Robert Dove at AFSC-NERO, 2161 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140; 617-661-6130; rdove@afsc.org.

Anyone currently in or out of the military who would like to talk to a counselor should also contact Robert Dove at AFSC-NERO, who will maintain the list of contact persons.

Anyone considering whether or not they might be a conscientious objector to war should contact The Peace Abbey, Two Main Street, Sherborn, Massachusetts 01770; 508-650-3659 (email through the website) to obtain a portfolio with check list of suggested documentation, in which to keep materials related to their thoughts and actions related to this issue.


FRIENDS AND MILITARY SERVICE
All Friends are encouraged to educate themselves about current policies and practices related to the military and its draft registration, recruitment, and service. They are also encouraged to consider how and to what degree these may or may not be in harmony with their individual understanding of and leadings regarding the traditional Friends Peace Testimony.

Young Friends who are approaching the age of eligibility for military service are particularly encouraged to explore their feelings on issues related to military service. Some suggested methods are:
-- clearness committee of their peers, to determine in what ways they do or do not consider themselves to be nonviolent and what might limits be to their nonviolence;
-- discussions with their families, older Friends, and others concerning nonviolence, living nonviolently, and military service; and
-- studying available information and talking with military counselors.

A Friend who believes that s/he might be a conscientious objector to military service is encouraged to:
-- start and maintain a portfolio documenting this commitment to nonviolence, including the items listed above and any others, including lists of books, articles, speeches, movies and other media presentations; descriptions of scenes that they have witnessed or been part of and speeches, vigils, demonstrations that may have influenced their thinking; journals or current writing that tell how beliefs have developed over time;
-- ask Friends, friends, teachers, neighbors, employers, etc. for written statements as to times and ways s/he has shown or expressed feelings supporting potential conscientious objection;
-- ask the local Friends Meeting to Minute the belief of its members that s/he is committed to nonviolence in a way that might make him/her a conscientious objector;
-- if a commitment to nonviolence is based on Friends' principles and if believed to be grounded in faith, consider applying for membership in the local Friends Meeting;
-- contact American Friends Service Committee - New England Regional Office, to connect with a counselor;
-- contact The Peace Abbey, Two Main Street, Sherborn, Massachusetts to sign the National Registry of Conscientious Objection.
-- contact The Peace Abbey to obtain a folder and check list for maintaining your documentation

MILITARY SERVICE AND CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION: COMMONLY HELD BELIEFS (CHB'S) AND FACTS

CHB: Selective Service registration is for men only.
Fact: True. Women who have felt this to be discriminatory have registered as a way of voicing their feeling and also as a way to show their solidarity with men, whether or not they are conscientious objectors.

CHB: To register with Selective Service is to register for the draft.
Fact: There is now no draft. Since the end of the Vietnam War, the military has been sufficiently filled with enlistees. Registration with Selective Service was reinstated by Jimmy Carter in 1980, the first time there has been any such thing in the U.S. except in times of war, and there have been a number of attempts since then by the government to end Selective Service (and the money used to maintain it).

CHB: A male must register with Selective Service by or on his 18th birthday. Those who do not are severely punished by law.
Fact: A male is required by current law to register with Selective Service within 30 days of his 18th birthday. A very small number of vocal non-registrants were prosecuted for non-registration shortly after its reinstatement, but none have been in recent years. Were a man between 18 and 26 (the current parameters for being required to register) to be threatened with prosecution, he could register at that time, and such late registration has not, to date, brought any reprisals. Most men who register do so because of what are known as the "Solomon Amendments", which deny benefits such as federal financial aid for education and eligibility for federal jobs to non-registrants. Again, a man can register at any time up to his 26th birthday if he feels a need for such benefits. When considering whether or not you are a conscientious objector and what your limits might be to acting in accordance with this belief, consider these aspects. There are alternate funds available for financial aid for education, including those in the Fund for Education and Training (FEAT), administered by the Center for Conscience and War (formerly National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objection or NISBCO), and you may want to consider what jobs with what kinds of organizations and companies you would be willing to take.

CHB: You can register as a Conscientious Objector.
FACT: To register with Selective Service, you just complete a postcard and drop it in the mail. On receipt, it is believed that Selective Service enters the info into their system and discards the postcard. If you believe that you are, or may be, a conscientious objector when you register, write on the card that you are a conscientious objector, have it notarized, make a copy, mail the original to Selective Service Registered Mail, Return Receipt Requested, and keep the copy and the receipt, when returned to you. It is doubtful that your remarks will be entered, but you will have a record of having attempted to make your beliefs known. Keep the copy and receipt in a safe place; you may want to keep them in a special portfolio of information and documentation related to your feelings on pacifism, nonviolence, war, and / or military service

CHB: You don't need to think about whether or not you might be a Conscientious Objector until you are almost 18.
Fact: It is never too early to consider your beliefs related to serving in the military and to document your thoughts as you grow older. Should a draft be reinstated and should you be called, you will have only a few days to report. It is at this time that you would have to prove that you are a conscientious objector. Hence, the need to start documenting your beliefs and how you came to them as soon and as completely as possible.

CHB: If you are a Friend, you will automatically be recognized as a conscientious objector.
Fact: No matter what your religion, you would have to prove to your draft board (should a draft be reinstated and you were called to report) that you were a conscientious objector. It might be easier if you were a member of one of the "historic peace churches", but it has always been far from automatic.

A few facts about the military (from CCCO)

ROTC: Less than one-third of those who sign up for ROTC actually receive scholarships, and scholarships are mostly given for engineering and scientific studies. Colleges may reduce their financial aid by the amount received from ROTC, resulting in no actual gain for students.

Montgomery GI Bill: Those who enlist in this must pay a non-refundable deposit. Less that one-half of the 75% of those who get out of the service actually eligible for its benefits get any money. The first 10 years of the program showed a profit of $720 million from the deposits and as of 1996 it was still making profits. Actual amounts given are small, and, as in ROTC, colleges may reduce their financial aid by any amount received from the Montgomery GI Bill.

Job training: Average job training is 1.7 months and specific training may be limited. For example, promised training as an "airplane mechanic" may be just changing the oil in a plane engine. Only 12% of male and 6% of female veterans say they are working at jobs that in any way use skills they learned in the military.

Conditions: Over 65% of army families are on food stamps or other public assistance. Current enlistment has been referred to as a "poverty draft" of people who had no other plans that looked promising after high school, but the Veterans Administration says that one-third of homeless people are veterans.

Universal Code of Military Justice: It ensures standard operating procedures for the military, but at the cost of much of the Bill of Rights. The military needs people who will do exactly what they are told without question, and trains people for that. There are no appeals from decisions in military trials.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

www.objector.org
Website of The Central Committee for Conscientious Objection (CCCO). You can get a lot of information directly from the website and also order printed materials on topics including:
- the Delayed Enlistment Program
- Draft Registration
- Things to Think About Before You Enlist, including alternatives to some of the reasons for which you might consider enlisting