Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

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From Draft NOtices, October-December 2015

— Isidro D. Ortiz, Ph.D.
    

Roberto Mendez LCPL-E — Marine Corps-Regular . . . Casualty was on Oct 27, 1968

This is part of the inscription on the Vietnam Memorial Wall for my childhood friend. Although I have never forgotten his death, I was reminded of his passing by the 45th anniversary of the largest protest against the war by Chicanos on August 29, 1970. The event was known as the Chicano Moratorium. It occurred in East Los Angeles, California, bringing together nearly 30,000 Chicanos in protest of the war. I was not at the Moratorium; however, combined with Roberto’s death, the protest further catalyzed my decision to become a conscientious objector.

The death of Roberto and those of many other Chicanos, the protest, and my decision to become a conscientious objector are small pieces of a chapter in the Vietnam War story that has been omitted in most discussions of the war.  So when some hear for the first time the elements of this chapter, they ask basic questions, such as: How many Chicanos and other Latinos participated in the military during the war? Why did Chicanos protest the war? How were Chicanos and other Latinos affected by the war? How many died in the war?

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From Draft NOtices, October-December 2015


— Rick Jahnkow
    
More and more cities have begun to pave the way toward economic justice by supporting the nationwide iThe seventh effort by Selective Service to pass legislation that would boost draft registration compliance in California collapsed when the proposal received several crippling amendments, followed by a veto by Governor Brown.

Assembly Bill 82 passed the California Assembly, but in order to get it through the Senate Appropriations Committee and onto the Senate floor, its author, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, was forced to accept poison pill amendments that would neutralize it.

When AB 82 went to the state senate, it passed by a 40-0 vote. It then went to Governor Brown, who vetoed it on October 9 with the following statement:

    To the Members of the California State Assembly:

    I am returning Assembly Bill 82 without my signature.

    This bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to provide men with the option to register with the U.S. Selective Service System when applying for an original driver's license.

    In view of the relatively easy ways that young men can register for the U.S. Selective Service System such as registering online, at their high school, or at a local post office, I don't think this new responsibility for the Department of Motor Vehicles is advisable."

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From Draft NOtices, October-December 2015

— Seth Kershner
    

The recent release of the 2014 DoD STARBASE annual report provides an opportunity to reflect on this little-known part of the Pentagon’s school militarization program. While the government shutdown in late 2013 left it in a weakened state, starting this year the military plans to extend the reach of STARBASE beyond its primary constituency — fifth-grade students in Title 1 schools — and to march its merry band of “mentors” into middle schools.

Supported by more than $20 million in annual funding from the Pentagon, in FY14 more than 40,000 fifth-grade students participated in DoD STARBASE at 58 locations in 31 states (including Puerto Rico). Students receive five days of instruction. Normally, school districts are only required to pay for the cost of transporting children to the military bases (the majority run by the National Guard) that host the program.

Besides promoting “knowledge and interest” in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), a “primary goal” of STARBASE, according to the annual report, is to generate more “positive attitudes towards military people” and to stimulate student interest in “STEM careers in the military.”

The program has been part of the national school militarism picture since 1993, when Congress first dedicated funds to support a national roll-out of STARBASE. It was a landmark year for school militarization. In addition to green-lighting STARBASE, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 also created the Troops to Teachers program and the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program, and allowed the high school Junior ROTC to double in size.

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Ninth CIRCUIT COURT RULING: CONFRONTING MILITARISM BY USING EQUAL ACCESS TO HIGH SCHOOLS

When the military comes to your local high school, you have a legal right to give students an opposing view. This has been the position taken by federal district courts in Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois and two federal appellate courts. The most broadly-worded decision came from a case that COMD took to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 1980s. Here is the background:

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