Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

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From Draft NOtices, October—December 2009

–Gilbert E. Field


Why in the world would you want to bring military veterans to a counter-recruitment event at a local school? Couldn’t this be counter-productive to your efforts? And if you are a veteran, why would you want to do counter-recruitment work?

Like anyone else, veterans come in all shapes, sizes and political beliefs. As a result of their service, whether it was in Vietnam in the 1960s or Iraq since 2003, many veterans have come to see the folly of war as an instrument of national policy. National groups like Veterans For Peace (now 8,000 strong) encourage their members to volunteer at counter-recruitment events as part of their education and outreach to young people who may be considering signing up for the military.

Having a veteran or two at the table brings credibility to the group, instant cultural commonality with many students/teachers, and better dealings with recruiters or “hostiles” who may also be at the event. How so?

Military veterans have unique authority because they have been where the students hope to go if they enlist. They have dealt with and been misled or lied to by the recruiters, experienced the “joys” of basic training, questioned what they were doing while serving, gone through the challenging process of discharge, and had medical issues dealt with or ignored when they got out or got older. On the other hand, some veterans had a very rewarding experience if they were lucky and were properly led, and they can provide wise counsel here as well. Many older veterans just now understand how the government may have used their honorable patriotism to support and execute terrible foreign policy, and sharing this awakening makes them particularly valuable. Because they’ve “been there,” when the questions get specific, they can share insight as no one else can.

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From Draft NOtices, July—September 2009

– Linda Pershing


During the 2008-2009 academic year, a proposal to start an Army ROTC program at California State University San Marcos, a 20-year-old campus in northern San Diego County, met with accolades from supporters and strong resistance from students, faculty, and community members who oppose the militarization of schools and universities. Military officials and a sponsoring faculty member withdrew their proposal without explanation when an ROTC Study Group, created by the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate, made the recommendation not to offer the ROTC program on campus. The recommendation was the culmination of a prolonged process of meetings, information gathering, testimony and input from members of the campus community, and a town hall meeting open to the public.

Context is everything. Traditionally, San Diego’s North County is politically conservative and pro-military. Since 2006, Brian Bilbray, a strong supporter of “national security” and anti-terrorism legislation, has been elected twice as the U.S. Congressional Representative in the 50th District, where Cal State San Marcos is located. The military presence in San Diego County is pervasive and goes largely unquestioned, with an estimated 100,000 military personnel stationed at many bases and installations in the area.

ROTC students at Cal State San Marcos currently take their military courses at other local universities, transferring the military science credits from San Diego State University (for the Army and Air Force) and the University of San Diego (for the Navy and Marines).

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From Draft NOtices, July—September 2009

– David Morales


I remember meeting a girl named Katia Ortiz. She was a junior in high school, probably 16 years old. She was in JROTC. Katia would hide from me the days she was forced to wear her Marine JROTC uniform. She was embarrassed. I asked her why she was in JROTC. She told me her counselor had placed her there for the physical education credit and that there was no other class available. So there was Katia, a week into the semester of JROTC, learning how to march and being bombarded with military propaganda. There was no more room in the 11th grade English classes; she was stuck until the following semester. “JROTC will have to do for now,” her counselor said.

Katia’s situation is no surprise or abnormality. There is a lack of academic and college preparatory courses in our public high schools. If more students decided to take the courses required to apply to colleges in California, there would not be enough space, books, or teachers for them. This contributes to the increasing military recruitment in schools.

In 2006, at Mission Bay High School in San Diego, where 75% of the students are youth of color, there was a highly promoted college-preparatory AVID program (Advancement Via Individual Determination). A section of the school was set aside for the AVID Academy, which consisted of a network of teachers supporting students fulfilling academic requirements. Mission Bay had an AVID coordinator, an AVID counselor, and more than 120 students in the AVID Academy.

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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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