Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

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From Draft NOtices, October-December 2020

Institutional Betrayal and Moral Courage: The Case of Armando Perez, Jr.

— Isidro Ortiz, Ph.D.

Sexual assault in the U.S. military is usually associated with female soldiers such as the late Private First Class Vanessa Guillen who, according to reports, was sexually harassed and killed by a fellow soldier while stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. However, male soldiers are also victims of sexual assault. A 2016 survey found that approximately 0.6 percent of active-duty men had experienced sexual assault in the previous year. Although some may dismiss the numbers as being insignificant, compared to sexual assaults of female soldiers, the numbers constitute part of what Congresswoman Veronica Escobar refers to as an “epidemic of unchecked sexual harassment and sexual assault” in the armed forces. The case of Armando Perez, Jr., offers insights into the institutional betrayal of male soldiers and the harm inflicted on those subjected to sexual assault.

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From Draft NOtices, July-September 2020

Attempt to Extend Draft Registration to Women Falls Short, for Now

— Rick Jahnkow

On July 1, a proposal was made, and then withdrawn without a vote, to add the entire “Inspire to Serve Act” to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that is being formulated in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was proposed by Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) during the House Armed Services Committee’s consideration of amendments to the 2021 NDAA.

The Inspire to Serve Act, introduced in the House as H.R. 6415, was drafted by the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service (NCMNPS). It is a wide-ranging proposal that includes, among other things, language to require women to register with the Selective Service System for any future military draft. No committee hearings have been scheduled yet for H.R. 6415.

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From Draft NOtices, July-September 2020

Who Joins the Military and Why: An Initial Reconnaissance

Research with potential implications for counter-recruitment work

— Isidro D. Ortiz, Ph.D.

Change: gentrification

The demographic composition of the American military has been a subject of interest to scholars, journalists and counter-recruitment activists. Some of the last have contended that the composition reflects a “poverty draft.” A recent study provides insight into the issue. “A Mercenary Army of the poor? Technological Change and the Demographic Composition of post-9/11 U.S. Military” by Andrea Asoni et. al, sheds new light on the controversial notion that the “the American military is a mercenary army of the poor.” The investigators break methodological ground by analyzing individual-level data on two national samples covering the period 1979-2005. Their analyses of the data reveal, they claim, that “contrary to accepted wisdom, the U.S. military no longer primarily recruits individuals from the most disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.” They also found that, in contrast to the past, those who join the American armed forces are at or above the median with respect to socio-economic indicators such as parental income, parental wealth and cognitive abilities — exactly the opposite of what other studies maintain. In other words, the armed forces recruited primarily from the middle-class sector of society. According to the investigators, at the roots of the change — which some have described as the “gentrification” of the military — are increases in the requirements of the “modern capital-intensive, information dominant, expeditionary American military.” According to the researchers, “the less affluent are less likely to meet such requirements.”

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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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