- Jonah Walters
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Once Again, the US Military Wants Your Kids
Jonah Walters / Jacobin Magazine -
Military recruiters understand that widespread joblessness is good for enlistment. They celebrate the arrival of “Sergeant Hard Times,” recognizing that misery is the best motivator.
The corona virus crisis has been a double-edged sword for military recruitment in the United States. On the one hand, the tightening of the labor market contributed to higher rates of retention than the Army brass expected, meaning that many soldiers decided to reenlist this spring rather than pursue civilian employment when their terms of service expired. On the other hand, recruiting stations across the country have had to shut down to comply with social distancing guidelines, limiting recruiters’ access to young people and inhibiting the “kneecap-to-kneecap” conversations recruiters widely acknowledge to be essential to their work.
Less than one percent of the Armed Forces’ target demographic — seventeen- to twenty-four-year-olds — is actively interested in a military career. After a “kneecap-to-kneecap” encounter with a recruiter, whether at a recruiting station or a school event, probability of enlistment climbs to more than 50 percent, according to the Army.
The reasons for this have been well-documented by anti-recruitment activists for decades. Recruiters, who are expected to meet regular enlistment quotas, aggressively pursue young people who express interest, generally attempting to separate them from parents, teachers, counselors, and others who might advocate for civilian careers.
- Pat Elder
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Tiempos difíciles para el reclutamiento militar
Cómo COVID-19 está afectando el Programa de Entrada Retrasada y amenazando la salud de los reclutas.
Por Pat Elder / Red nacional de oposición a la militarización de la juventud, NNOMY - 8 de junio de 2020
- Read the English Version
COVID-19 ha impactado profundamente la forma en que los militares encuentran nuevos soldados. El comando de reclutamiento fue atrapado sin preparación para enfrentar la pandemia y se enfrenta a una nueva realidad desafiante.
El reclutamiento militar es una búsqueda psicológica intensa que tradicionalmente se ha basado en la capacidad de los reclutadores para desarrollar relaciones cercanas con los adolescentes. Estas relaciones se cultivaron en las escuelas secundarias de la nación, donde los reclutadores tenían acceso a los niños. Los reclutadores sirvieron como entrenadores y tutores. Trajeron donas a la facultad. Almorzaron con perspectivas, a veces cien veces en un solo año escolar. Los reclutadores militares jugaron baloncesto uno a uno después de la escuela con reclutas potenciales y se hicieron mejores amigos con algunos niños. Tan amigable, cientos de reclutadores masculinos han sido implicados en relaciones sexuales inapropiadas con niñas menores de edad.
Las escuelas secundarias eran el centro del universo de reclutamiento, pero eso terminó abruptamente en marzo cuando se rompió la tubería de alistamiento. Los reclutadores alistaron a personas de la tercera edad y los colocaron en el Programa de Ingreso Retrasado (DEP) en el cual el ingreso de un estudiante al servicio activo se pospone por hasta 365 días. (El Ejército ahora lo llama el Programa del Futuro Soldado). El objetivo del programa DEP es mantener la motivación del futuro soldado mientras
- Pat Elder
- Hits: 1375
Tough Times for Military Recruiting
How COVID-19 is impacting the Delayed Entry Program and threatening the health of recruits.
By Pat Elder / National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth, NNOMY - June 8, 2020
- Read the Spanish Version
COVID-19 has profoundly impacted the way the military finds new soldiers. The recruiting command was caught unprepared to face the pandemic and is facing a challenging new reality.
Military recruiting is an intense, psychological pursuit that has traditionally relied on the ability of recruiters to develop close relationships with teenage prospects. These relationships were cultivated in the nation’s high schools where recruiters enjoyed access to children. Recruiters served as coaches and tutors. They brought donuts to the faculty. They ate lunch with prospects, sometimes a hundred times in a single school year. Military recruiters played one-on-one basketball after school with potential recruits and became best of friends with some kids. So friendly, hundreds of male recruiters have been implicated in inappropriate sexual relationships with underaged girls.
High schools were the center of the recruiting universe, but that ended abruptly in March when the enlistment pipeline was ruptured. Recruiters enlisted seniors and placed them into the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) in which a student’s entry into active duty is postponed for up to 365 days. (The Army now calls it the Future Soldier Program.) The thrust of the DEP program is to maintain future soldier motivation while minimizing attrition. When DEP members report to basic training, they are accessed (enlisted) into active duty.
