From Draft NOtices, October-December 2014
Below is an excerpt from a military regulation governing recruiters when they arrange for high schools to give the military’s aptitude test, the ASVAB (emphasis added):
School and student participation in the STP [Student Testing Program] is voluntary. DOD personnel are prohibited from suggesting to school officials or any other influential individual or group that the test be made mandatory.
USMEPCOM 601-4, Chapter 3, The Student Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Scheduling and Session, 3-1.(e) Voluntary aspect of the student ASVAB.
Now, here is what a Navy manual tells its recruiters to do (emphasis added):
(1) Explain that the ASVAB is a DoD sponsored, nationwide test that measures
aptitude. Emphasize that the test relates to a variety of job skills and occupations, which can help counselors in their guidance of students . . .
(3) Request the school make testing mandatory or at least publicize it sufficiently in advance to maximize participation."
NAVY RECRUITING MANUAL-ENLISTED, COMNAVCRUITCOMINST 1130.8J, Section 3 High School/Community College Program, 040305. Conducting The Initial Visit
When the ASVAB is given in high schools, recruiters use it as a way to gain access to detailed information on students that normally must be approved by parents first. Individual schools can invoke a privacy option (ASVAB Option 8) but they rarely do. So which one of the two above instructions do you think recruiters will obey?
For more information on ASVAB testing, visit www.studentprivacy.org.
This article is from Draft NOtices, the newsletter of the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (http://www.comdsd.org/)