Tuesday, November 01, 2005

A New Battle Line

Parents are taking a stand against military recruiting on high school campuses.

A group of parents in Seattle says most families don't have a clue the new law exists. And they argue that schools have done a poor job letting parents know there is an alternative that schools must provide the so-called opt-out forms that give students the chance to withhold their information from the military.

"When it comes to education, I think the colleges have the right to contact the students," says Linda Summers, a parent. "I'm not sure that the military should have the same right."

Despite the increased access, the military has had a tough time meeting recruiting targets. The Army has achieved only 92 percent of its goal. The Army National Guard, 80 percent. The Army Reserve, 84 percent.


The Army's new series of ads show that the Army is aware of the backlash and is trying to fight back.

The trouble is, as my mother points out, the ads are basically a lie.

The one that she noticed is a son talking to his father about joining the reserve. His father says "it's the Army" the son counters "it's he reserve" and talks about college opportunity and 'growing up'. My mother points out that Army, Guard, Reserve, it doesn't matter, you still may end up in Iraq.

It is clear that the parents understand this reality.

Parents in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties last month asked their school boards to better publicize military opt-out choices for parents.

The National PTA also is pushing for change. It wants the law rewritten so that students would have to sign a form saying they want their information released to the military, said spokesman James Martinez.

"We don't have anything against what the military is trying to do," he said. "We're just concerned about student privacy."


Parents know that recruiters are, in the end, salesmen. They have goals and targets to meet, and will hype the good, and hide the bad.

So, while the recruiters will say, 'Hey, Listen' this is the reserve, not the Army' the parents know that, guard, reserve, regular Army, it doesn't matter, they are all serving and dying in Iraq.

The recruiters focus the kids on the education, but the parents know that the army will you where they need you, and while they can modify the deal, you can't.

This will just be another obstacle that the Army must face in it's efforts to keep our forces fully staffed.

1 comment:

Redneck Publius said...

You are absolutely correct on this one - either way you slice it, a trip to Iraq is probable. I wouldn't call it a lie per se, because the Reserve Army is different than the Regular Army; but with war comes more of a chance to do what the Reserves was designed to do - augment the Regular forces in times of war.

I wrote a post talking about the Army's "slick enticements" like money for college, and their catchy, nebulous phrases like Army of One (what the hell does that mean?) etc. They need to just sell the damn product for what it is and be done with it. The Marine Corps doesn't try to bullshit its prospective applicants...they say it is tough, etc. and have no problem making quotas.

Cheers,
TBone