Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

Articles Archive
Hits: 2846

From Draft NOtices, January-March 2007

 

 


—Jorge Mariscal
    

In late December 2006, the Bush administration reversed its previous position and agreed to a permanent expansion of the Army and Marine Corps.(1) In reality, the size of the two “ground services” has grown steadily since 2001 when Congress approved a temporary increase of 30,000 to the Army and authorized additional increases to the Army and Marines in 2005 and 2006. The current proposal would make these increases permanent and by 2012 achieve the objective of an active-duty Army of 542,400 and a Marine Corps of 190,000.

In their public statements, Pentagon officials claimed that finding the bodies to reach these goals would not be difficult. Increased bonuses, more recruiters, massive publicity campaigns, and appeals to patriotism would be enough to attract volunteers, they argued.

Lesser-known programs — such as the Army GED Plus Enlistment Program, in which applicants without high school diplomas are allowed to enlist while they complete a high school equivalency certificate — are expected to help. (Interestingly, the GED Plus Enlistment Program is available only in inner city areas.) The Army’s recent fudging of entrance requirements to accept an increased percentage of recruits with minor criminal records may also raise enlistment numbers.

Articles Archive
Hits: 2627

From Draft NOtices, January-March 2007


 
    

The following account is from the mother of a young man who joined the Marines in 2006 and quickly got a rude awakening.

Christopher is home now. He got an early separation for failure to adapt to military life. I am so proud of him for standing up for what he believed and for his courage to recognize his mistake quickly. His experience is pretty interesting. I am trying to get him to write it down but right now he is just enjoying being home and in the throes of looking for a job. While I can’t do his story justice, I will share some things he told me that I found to be particularly disturbing.

Chris said it didn’t take long for him to know he was in the wrong place. He is a serious history buff and has been watching the History Channel since he was in elementary school. A few days into boot camp he attended a history class. The instructor asked the platoon, “How many of you in here hate history?” The entire platoon — with the exception of two, my son and another young man — raised their hands. “That’s probably because you were taught history by some liberal hippie. Here is the real story.” Chris said what followed was a one-sided view of history that could only be defined as propaganda. The scary part was that many of these young Marines bought into this view of history that included skewed numbers of battle casualties — e.g., we killed 4,000 and only lost four of our guys.

Articles Archive
Hits: 3536

From Draft NOtices, October-December 2006

 



—Martin Smith
    

I will never forget standing in formation after the end of our final “hump,” Marine-speak for a forced march, at the end of the Crucible in March, 1997. The Crucible is the final challenge during Marine Corps boot camp and is a two-and-a-half-day, physically exhausting exercise in which sleep deprivation, scarce food, and a series of obstacles test teamwork and toughness. The formidable nine-mile stretch ended with our ascent up the “Grim Reaper,” a small mountain in the hilly terrain of Camp Pendleton, California. As we stood at attention, the commanding officer made his way through our lines, inspecting his troops and giving each of us an eagle, globe and anchor pin, the mark of our final transition from recruit to Marine. But what I recall most was not the pain and exhaustion that filled every ounce of my trembling body, but the sounds that surrounded me as I stood at attention with eyes forward.

Mixed within the repetitive refrains of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” belting from a massive sound system, were the soft and gentle sobs emanating from numerous newborn Marines. Their cries stood in stark contrast to the so-called “warrior spirit” we had earned and now came to epitomize. While some may claim that these unmanly responses resulted from a patriotic emotional fit or even out of a sense of pride in being called “Marine” for the very first time, I know that for many the moisture streaming down our cheeks represented something much more anguished and heartrending.

Subscribe to...

Click HERE

 

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:

Find Out More | Download PDF