This January, in the remote fishing community of Homer, AK, three activists handed out counter-recruitment literature during lunch at the local high school. Holding a “Recruiters Lie” sign, Debby Poore, Hope Finkelstein, and Veterans for Peace (VFP) member, Michael LeMay, stood next to two Marine recruiters stationed at the school. They did not protest the right of the recruiters to be there, nor attempt to interfere with their job.
After refusing to leave the grounds on the principle’s request, the activists were arrested by Homer police and cited for second-degree criminal trespass, a Class B misdemeanor. In their statement to the press, the three cited their 1st Amendment Constitutional rights and the importance of listening to all sides of a story—noting that parents and educators work to instill this fundamental value in children.
The three maintain that the 1986 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the Card v. Grossmont Union High School District case established that opponents of military recruiters should have equal access to students. They also noted that in the absence of opposing viewpoints, students may think that the school itself endorses the military’s perspective.
Actions like these are a testament to the small but growing counter-recruitment movement in a place that has long-been exploited by the military for its sparsely inhabited land and young pools of potential soldiers.
Along with the remaining “Distant Early Warning Line” stations—obsolete leftovers from the Cold War—there are 116 military armories and 11 major military installations that are all used to recruit young Alaskans into the armed forces. Alaska also ranks seventh highest in the number of recruits per thousand 18-24 year olds. Fueling pro-war patriotism is the importance of military activities to Alaska’s local economies. Additionally, an extremely strong congressional delegation headed by the powerful Sen. Ted Stevens has been securing military spending in Alaska for over 35 years.
In most Alaskan communities there is no voice for questioning recruiting practices and antiwar messages are typically criticized as being unpatriotic. A common refrain is, “There is no higher calling than serving in uniform. If it weren’t for our soldiers, these un-American whiners would not have the freedom to criticize.” Despite this pro-war climate, activists are coming together to challenge the military’s manipulative recruitment schemes.
Last fall, Fairbanks bade farewell to 5 percent of its population when the 3000 troops of 172 Stryker Brigade deployed to Iraq. Fairbanks organizers under the name Positive Opportunities have been working to limit military recruitment in local public schools and to allow organizations and people with alternate information access to students. Positive Opportunities has placed brochures and posters in most schools and elsewhere, and have been meeting with school officials to pursue policy development and access to students. The group will also begin fielding G.I. Rights Hotline calls, over 100 of which originated from Alaska last year.
Responding to counter-recruiting efforts, many school administrators say they do not want campuses to become “political forums”. But Positive Opportunities contends that a constant military presence in schools—via recruiters, gifts, and donations such as school supplies and computer war games—is a one-sided political forum.
A recent draft policy written by Fairbanks’ school district administrators asserts that college recruiters have the same access rights as military recruiters. While the policy grants this equal access, there is no limit on frequency, nor specifications on the amount of “donations” that can be made to schools.
Additionally, any other organization—such as Positive Opportunities—is prohibited from access to schools without permission from the superintendent.
Fairbanks military recruiters have heard about counter-recruitment organizing and are going on the offense. On February 10, the Fairbanks radio station KUAC interviewed first Sgt. Jay Clegg, overseer of statewide recruiting efforts, who said that if the recruiters’ visits are limited, recruiting must “be done on an internal basis where there’s a relationship between the recruiting station and the principal of each school.” He also commented that recruiters are hoping to find a way to “actually come in and teach in a classroom environment … in U.S. History or whatnot.” “That’s gonna be the only way we’re going to be able to counter this,” says Clegg.
As elsewhere in the country, the effort to give students full disclosure about military enlistment issues poses challenges and has differing levels of support in different communities. Usually, those who care about recruitment also care about and are organizing around other issues related to militarism and violence. Some however have found it important not bring in too many issues for fear of alienating potential allies.
Aside from the school board meetings and tabling, the most crucial component of counter-recruitment for Alaskan organizations has been networking: sharing strategies, resources, and being mutually supportive. Despite setbacks, community awareness is growing, as are the numbers of empowered and informed students.
