military recruitment

Tue

Mar

2016

Young and Desperate? I want you to fight my wars!

New translation available

Submitted by hannah

“Don’t join the Army.”

“Don’t do what? Don’t leave here? Don’t learn new skills?”

These are the words from the new recruitment advert from the British Army to recruit new members to its ranks. It depicts a...

Thu

Dec

Not Even Tajikistan's All-Powerful President Can Stop Forced Military Recruitment

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 04/12/2014 - 16:56

The traditional season of forced recruitment into Tajikistan's military is well underway, despite President Emomali Rahmon ordering a stop to the practice earlier in the year. As draftees try to avoid two years in the country's underfunded, under-heated barracks, stories of violent kidnappings are just as common as they were last year.

Not Even Tajikistan's All-Powerful President Can Stop Forced Military Recruitment

Wed

Nov

Principals learn about Army opportunities

Submitted by Gary on Wed, 26/11/2014 - 01:46

Command Sgt. Maj. Willie Clemmons, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, talks about the Army core values as he addresses National Association of Secondary School Principals and U.S. Army Leadership and Professional Development Symposium participants Nov. 13 at the Lewis and Clark Center. Photo by Prudence Siebert/Fort Leavenworth Lamp

By Jennifer Walleman / Fort Leavenworth Lamp -

Note: The military claims that it does not focus on recruiting low-income people.

The National Assn. of Secondary School Principals partnered with the Army to sponsor this symposium at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, in the United States. The principals were chosen because they are from schools serving students living in poverty. Notice the final quote at the end from one of them:

“Now that I have a better understanding of what the Army can offer, I’m going to sit down with the recruiter back home, and I’m going to have him be a little bit more aggressive with our kids and give him more opportunities to (reach) kids and explain to them how and why the military might be a good solution to actually help them be a success.”

Mon

Nov

Sweden considers new tactic to enlist soldiers

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 24/11/2014 - 12:34

Having defence as a subject in school could help increase the number of pupils who want to enlist in the armed forces, according to a new Swedish study.

The report published in Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter revealed that making defence a school subject and inviting everybody in the country who is 18 to an annual armed forces day could help boost numbers.

Since compulsory military service was scrapped in 2010, it has become more difficult to entice potential new recruits into the army.

Thu

Nov

Bundeswehr ties to put best boot forward

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 20/11/2014 - 12:13

In the middle of Berlin, the German defense minister is opening a new showroom. The aim is to bring more young people into the Bundeswehr's barracks - but there were a few uninvited guests at the grand opening.

Jörg Jankowsky of the Bundeswehr's career center explained the purpose of a new showroom the German military opened in an unassuming office in the middle of Berlin. It is on the ground floor, near the capital's Unter den Linden boulevard with its fast-food restaurants, fashion shops, and bakeries. In between a shoe shop and a pharmacy, the new military showroom offers free information about career opportunities in the German armed service.

'Advertising death'

Inside the new information center, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen is talking to a group of 10th grade students from a Berlin school, and her handlers don't want the press disturbing them as they have their pictures taken with the politician.

Fri

Nov

Reflection on My Time as Project YANO’s Student Intern

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 15:12

Jesus Mendez-Carbajal - In the past nine months as Project YANO’s 2013-2014 student intern, I have learned an immense amount of information about U.S. militarism, its far reach, and counter-recruitment. I have been directly impacted on multiple levels. I have grown mentally through the knowledge I have gained and also personally through the interactions and relationships I have built with youth, advisors, teachers, mentors, and Project YANO supporters, volunteers and board members. I have had the pleasure of working with students who look like me, engaging low-income youth of color who have stories and backgrounds similar to my own.

Thu

Nov

The US Military’s Totally Cool Mobile Enlistment Exhibits

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 06/11/2014 - 13:18

Image: The Extreme Truck, a 15,700-pound mobile recruitment vehicle that roams the country dazzling prospective soldiers. Photo courtesy of the US Army

For decades, the US military has been using souped-up mobile exhibits to recruit prospective soldiers. In July of this year, the military deployed the latest addition to a fleet that roves the country hoping to win the hearts and minds of American youth. The new vehicle, known as the Extreme Truck, is equipped with two 32-inch gaming stations, a 60-inch flat-screen television, several smaller TVs, and pull-up and push-up platforms. It has its own Facebook page, which, at press time, has been liked 111 times.

Tue

Oct

Stop the Army Campaign for Recruitment

Tue

Oct

At Ease

At Ease is a voluntary organisation providing advice and information to members of the Armed Forces - including information on conscientious objection and the right to object. AT EASE is not intended to promote a particular view about the Armed Forces.

Mon

Oct

Why is the U.S. Military Pushing K-12 Students to Build Drones in Dayton?

Submitted by Gary on Mon, 20/10/2014 - 00:13

By: Seth Kershner

As a journalist and researcher, I’ve spent the last several years investigating the expanding network of links between public education and the U.S. military. With my colleague Scott Harding, I’ve also been researching the grassroots response to this phenomenon: the counter-recruitment movement.

Mon

Oct

Caught in the Crossfire: Child Soldiers in South Sudan Have Few Alternatives

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 13/10/2014 - 13:00

In South Sudan, as in many parts of the world engulfed in conflict, youth are growing up in communities that have been torn apart by war. The film The Good Lie, which tells the story of the lost boys and girls of Sudan, vividly portrays their struggles during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005). Throughout the war, children were actively conscripted, both voluntarily and by force, into the national army and other armed groups. That legacy of recruiting child soldiers has continued into today’s conflict in South Sudan.

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.