United States of America

How can you help stop the intrusion of the military into people’s lives?

Here are five ways to take action:

Campaign for an ordinance for equal access in your school district.

Equal access mandates that for each military recruitment session done in the district’s schools, peace groups are allowed equal time and access to the students to offer alternatives to enlistment. See examples of other successful campaigns and how-to organizing guides. 

Distribute opt-out forms at local high schools.

At the beginning of the school year, parents have the option to opt-out of allowing their children to be contacted by military recruiters. You can download opt-out forms to distribute.

This manual focuses on building the GI resistance movement, and doing so requires an understanding of how veterans are directly impacted by war and militarism. Civilian organizers need this awareness in order to to build relationships and organize effectively in the military community. Below we explore veterans’ experiences with the military.

Source: http://couragetoresist.org/news/1018-war-college.html

By Mike Mckee, Courage to Resist. March 17, 2014

A recently circulated academic paper from a U.S. Army War College research fellow demonstrates that organizations like Courage to Resist are having a substantive effect on the military’s ability to recruit and retain soldiers.

The paper, titled “Civilian Organizational Inhibitors to US Army Recruiting and the Road Ahead (PDF),” singles out Courage to Resist as a key example of its most formidable opponents that “aim to hinder, deter, or prevent United States Army Recruiters from presenting information and providing opportunities to their target market.”

Rick Jahnkow -

Counter-recruitment and school demilitarization work in the U.S. has gone through several cycles of expansion and contraction during the last few decades. The first expansion was during the early 1980s when it was supported by a small number of national organizations, such as the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), War Resisters League, Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO) and National Lawyers Guild. Most grassroots activities at the time were carried out by chapters of these organizations and a number of independent community peace groups (including COMD and, eventually, Project YANO).