Most people join the military on the Delayed Entry Program (“DEP” or sometimes referred to in the Army with its Army name “Future Soldiers Training Program” or “FSTP”). Basically it means you sign up now and go later. “Later” can be anywhere from a day to a maximum twelve months after signing the initial enlistment agreement. To be clear: There is NO penalty for withdrawing from the DEP. People who change their minds about joining the military are under NO obligation to report to active duty.

If you are in the Delayed Entry Program (DEP)—also called the “Future Soldiers” program, no longer want to join, and need to talk about your situation quickly, call NNOMY at (443) 671-7111 and ask for "No-Me."  We will put you in touch with a GI Rights counselor ASAP.

However, one of the most common forms of serious recruiter misconduct is threatening young people who have joined the DEP and then change their minds about enlisting. Recruiters are under a huge amount of pressure to sign up enough recruits. If they don't make their quota they are punished, harassed and possibly re-assigned. Recruiters don't get credit for people who enlist in the DEP until they actually show up for boot camp. Since they have invested time and energy in each DEP recruit, if they think they are losing you, they will do or say anything to get you to not back out.

The most important thing to remember is not to report for basic training unless you intend to really enlist, even if a recruiter tells you it is necessary to get out of the DEP (this is a lie). If you do report for basic training, you will no longer be a civilian and it will be very difficult to get out because you will have to be “discharged” which is not easy. WARNING! If you are signed up for the Guard or Reserves, your situation may be more complicated and you should call the GI Rights Hotline 877-447-4487 before you take any action. (Call if you have any questions about this fact sheet, too—counselors are there to help you understand your rights.)

Over the years, we have had reports from students who were told that if they change their minds, they would be considered deserters in war time and could be hunted down and shot. A student we know deliberately failed to graduate in June rather than choose between (nonexistent) penalties or being forced into the military. When the school quietly readmitted him in the Fall, the recruiter restarted his harassment and threats. A young woman in the Bronx had 2 MP’s (military police) stationed outside her parents’ home, causing her mother to suffer a nervous collapse. One young woman was told that if she didn't go through with her enlistment that her family would be deported. When we contacted a recruiter about our concerns, he threatened to have us arrested by the FBI. ALL THESE THINGS ARE LIES!! They are also serious examples of recruiter misconduct.

If you want to withdraw from the DEP, write a brief letter to the local recruiting commander (not your individual recruiter) of the branch of the military you signed up for (see www.usarec.army.mil for battalion headquarters addresses). This letter should state that you have changed your mind about enlisting, that you are requesting “separation” and will not be reporting for induction. You can give the reason you have changed your mind or the plans you have made instead, for example attending college, employment, family obligations etc. However, it is not required to provide a reason for withdrawing. The letter should indicate that you are sending a copy to your congress member which you should also send. Detailed instructions and a sample letter are available from the GI Rights Hotline www.girightshotline.org/discharges. This letter should be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. Once the letter has been sent, refuse all further contact with the recruiter. Do NOT go to the recruiting station to “fill out paperwork.” You are not obligated to meet with the recruiter at home, in school or on the street. Under no circumstances should you get into a vehicle with the recruiter.

While recruiters are permitted to try to “resell” you on the idea of enlisting, they are strictly prohibited from “threatening, coercing or intimidating” you. Unfortunately, this behavior is quite common and can be a frightening experience. So get back-up. Find a sympathetic teacher or guidance counselor who can stand up for you. Talk to your family so they support you when the recruiter calls or shows up at your house.
Get help from an expert in dealing with recruiters who bully (see reverse for instructions). Here are some groups you can call for help: AFSC National Recruiter Abuse Hotline: 877-688-6881 (toll free), www.afsc.org/ Youth&Militarism; The GI Rights Hotline: 877 447-4487 (toll free), www.girightshotline.org; The Ya-Ya Network: 212 239-0022, yayanetwork.org

It is really important that you report any threats or improprieties to recruiting command and, if you are a student, that you report the recruiter to school authorities. For every one who knows their rights, there are many more who get bullied or manipulated into joining the military when they really don't want to. If we don't report these violations, recruiters will just keep getting away with it. Reports should include the name of the recruiter, their branch of the military, your name and age, the date(s) of the incident and a description of what occurred. This report should be sent to the recruiting command of your local recruiting office (addresses available at www.usarec.army.mil). One month after the report has been filed, a follow-up phone call should be made to recruitment command to find out what has been done about the incident. Further follow-up may be required.

Here is the text of the regulations regarding the DEP and recruiter misconduct. If your recruiter hassles you, quote this then tell them to leave you alone.

Army:

Members of the recruiting force must respond positively to any inquiry from DEP members concerning separations from the DEP. Under no circumstances will any member of this command threaten, coerce, manipulate, or intimidate DEP members, nor may they obstruct separation requests. When such an inquiry is received, local recruiting personnel will attempt to resell the DEP member on an Army enlistment. If this attempt is not successful (not later than 14 days from the original request), advise the DEP member of the provisions governing separation from the DEP and tell them a written request for separation may be forwarded to the Rctg Bn commander. Emphasize that the DEP member may submit a request for separation even though his or her reason for it does not fall within an expressed category, such as hardship, dependency, apathy, and/or personal reasons.

Source: Waiver, Delayed Entry Program Separation, and Void Enlistment Processing Procedures, (USAREC Regulation 601-56,Chapter 3 DEP Separation Procedures, Section c.) (1) Recruiters will not knowingly mislead or misinform a prospect or applicant regarding any aspect of processing, entitlements, benefits, or other aspects of the Army so the prospect or applicant would decide to enlist into either the RA or USAR, or transfer to a TPU. This includes “conditional” enlistments in which an applicant enlists based on a recruiter’s assurance that the applicant’s prospects for selection for another program will improve. Other examples include false promises of cash bonus, Army College Fund, Student Loan Repayment Program, regaining custody of dependent children prior to completion of first term of enlistment, overseas assignments, or a specific station of choice. (2) Recruiters will not threaten, coerce, or intimidate any person for the purpose of inducting a member of the DEP to report to AD [Active Duty]. This includes misrepresenting the likelihood of being apprehended and ordered to AD. It also includes obstructing an individual from being separated from the DEP. Although recruiters may properly attempt to “resell” an applicant, they will not unreasonably delay the process of an applicant’s request for separation.

Source: Recruiting Improprieties Policies and Procedures (USAREC Regulation 601-45, Chapter 2-3. Specific prohibitions, Section h. Misrepresentation and Coercion.): Misrepresentation and coercion.

Navy:

The Navy Regulations state, threatening DEP member with possible disciplinary actions for failing to enlist or coercing DEP members to fulfill their contractual obligations is inconsistent with the concept of the all-volunteer force. Source: COMNAVCRUITCOMIST 1130.8F, 6A-6, Note 1.

Marines:

The Marines don't have this clear language prohibiting harassment, but do make it clear that the individual can leave the DEP. Their Recruiting Regulations, under "Desire for Release or Intent Not to Report" states: If the individual insists on being released from the enlistment, the individual will be discharged. Source: MCO P1100.72C, 4301, 3d(2).

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Revised 10/03/2020

Workshop List 

Download the list of workshops with descriptions here (revised 7-14-09)

Presenter Biographies

Download the list of conference presenters with biographical information here (revised 7-13-09)

PLEASE NOTE: Workshop session times are in the conference schedule.

For a list of all workshops and presenters with biographical information, click here.

IMPORTANT NOTES TO PRESENTERS:

• HANDOUTS: If you are planning to hand out hard copy materials or show a video or Power Point, please email us electronic copies of your documents (PDF, Word-compatible or Power Point files) and/or links to the video you plan to use. We can post a limited number of these on the NNOMY site so people can access them if they were not able to attend your workshop. Email documents and/or links to Project YANO, including your name and the workshop title: projyano(at)aol.com. PLEASE send us ONLY materials that are used in your workshop--not other materials or links.
  
  
•  PHOTOCOPYING: If you are not able to photocopy handouts for workshops ahead of time, there are commercial copy shops in the vacinity of Roosevelt University. Ask for directions at the conference check-in table.
  
  
• EQUIPMENT: If you have special equipment needs for your workshop and have not already notified our host, Chicago AFSC, please do so immediately: 312-427-2533, DGramigna(at)afsc.org.
  
  
• LAPTOPS: If you are planning to bring your own laptop to connect to in-room projectors (good idea), please let AFSC  know if it is a PC or Mac so the right connectors will be available.

Tashawna Parker, 18, just graduated from Kenwood Academy on Chicago's south side. She can't wait to start classes at Northwestern University, where she will double-major in International Studies and Japanese Culture. But before she heads off to college, Ms. Parker plans on spending the summer working with the National Network Opposing Militarization of Youth.

A conference planned for Chicago from July 17-19, sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, will bring together activists from across the midwest to discuss strategies to combat Pentagon recruitment tactics—tactics aimed at children as young as 13, according to the activists.

On the weekend of July 17, over 250 activists from across the country converged on Roosevelt University in Chicago for the largest meeting ever of counter-recruitment and anti-militarism organizers.  Retirees from Florida and California, concerned parents from Ohio and Massachusetts, veterans from New Mexico and Oregon, grandmothers from Texas and North Carolina joined with youth organizations such as New York’s Ya-Yas (Youth Activists-Youth Allies) and San Diego’s Education Not Arms to consolidate a movement intent on resisting the increased militarization of U.S. public schools.

The building overlooking Lake Michigan vibrated with the positive energy of the diverse participants—people from different generations, regions, and ethnicities mixing together and exchanging stories about their struggle to demilitarize local schools.  For many senior citizens from the East Coast this was the first time they had met much less learned from Chicana high school students who live in border communities near San Diego.  For those relatively new to the counter-recruitment movement, the experience taught them more about the on-going process in which young people are increasingly subjected to military values and aggressive recruiting techniques.

Organized by the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY), an alliance of over 180 organizations, the conference included workshops and caucuses on a variety of subjects ranging from the role of class and culture in counter-recruiting, women in the military, and legislative approaches to challenging militarization.

The growth of the counter-recruitment movement benefited greatly from the Bush administration’s slide into totalitarianism.  While established organizations like Project YANO of San Diego and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Youth and Militarism program had been working for decades to demilitarize youth, the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 for the first time alerted many to the insidious nature of military recruiting in schools.  Many newcomers to the movement began with “opt-out” campaigns to protect students’ privacy and then moved on to the issue of military aptitude tests (ASVAB) that are often administered covertly in school districts nationwide.

Although some activists during the Bush years saw counter-recruitment solely as an antiwar tactic, the participants at the NNOMY conference understood that militarism is an issue that must be confronted with long-term strategies.  As many of them told me, it is less an issue of stopping current wars (although that is important) than it is of inhibiting the power of the military-corporate-educational complex with the goal of slowly transforming an interventionist and imperial foreign policy.

The symbolism of the conference location was especially important given that the Chicago public school district is the most heavily militarized district in the nation.  The current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was superintendent of the city’s schools and oversaw the expansion of JROTC and military academies.  Today, Chicago has more academies and more JROTC cadets than any other city in the country.  Under Duncan’s leadership, it will more than likely become a model for the rest of the country.

As Sam Diener reported at the NNOMY conference, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2009 mandates that the military work to increase the number of schools with JROTC from the current total of about 3400 schools to 3700 schools by the year 2020 (a list of schools targeted for new units will be posted shortly on the Peacework Magazine website).

The larger context is alarming.  The decades long defunding of public education, the resultant decline of K-12 systems across the country, and the growth of the charter school movement has produced a situation in which the Pentagon is free to wade into the wreckage with an offer many parents cannot refuse.  In a classic shock doctrine maneuver, the military exerts increasing influence in public schools offering desperate parents programs that will teach their sons and daughters discipline and “leadership skills.”  As Gina Perez explained at the NNOMY meeting, working class youth with limited options, many of whom are active in their community churches, believe they can “make a difference” by joining JROTC.

Despite the Pentagon’s denials, there is no question that militarized school programs operate as covert recruiting programs. Recent studies show that about 40% of all JROTC cadets end up enlisting in the military. Activists working in Georgia recently obtained school district documents that refer to the goal of creating “African American and Hispanic children soldiers.”  What the Pentagon hopes to produce, however, is not cannon fodder as an earlier Vietnam War-era analysis might suggest but rather an educated workforce able to complete the complex tasks of a well-oiled, increasingly high tech, military.

Given the difficulty recruiters have had finding enough high school graduates to fill their quotas, especially in those Latino communities that will provide the largest group of military-age youth for the foreseeable future, it makes sense that the military would attempt to create its own pipeline.  If the public schools cannot turn out enough qualified potential recruits, the Pentagon will do it.  Neoliberalism in the United States may not mean generals in the Oval Office.  But it may mean children in military uniforms marching in formation at a school near you.

The model for this aspect of the militarist agenda is the Chicago public school system where for several years minority neighborhoods have seen the increasing encroachment of the military.  Science teacher Brian Roa, who has written about the Chicago experience, described in a recent truthout article how Mayor Daley and Superintendent Duncan oversaw the expansion of military academies.  “One day the Navy occupied one floor of our school,” Roa said at the NNOMY conference, “and before we knew it they had taken over the second and then the third floor.”

At San Diego’s Mission Bay High School, funding for college preparatory courses was decreased while the principal implemented plans for a Marine Corps JROTC complete with firing range for air rifle practice.  Latino students created the Education Not Arms coalition and successfully convinced a majority on the San Diego Board of Education to ban rifle training at eleven high schools.  Similar success stories were recounted last weekend all of which suggest that not only is militarism a high priority issue for the new century but also that youth activism is alive and well.

The fact that President Obama’s daughters attend Quaker schools while his Secretary of Education oversees the expansion of military programs for working class children is one more glaring contradiction in Obamaland.  The young people who attended the NNOMY conference are aware of the contradiction and left Chicago vowing that they will not passively stand by as their schools become centers for military indoctrination.

More information on the counter-recruitment movement is available at the NNOMY website: http://www.nnomy.org/

Jorge Mariscal is a Vietnam veteran and a member of Project YANO (San Diego). Visit his blog at: jorgemariscal.blogspot.com/

source: http://www.counterpunch.org/mariscal07232009.html

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