COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Counter-Recruitment: General
Bombing in New York: latest recruitment protest?
Ron Scherer and Ben Arnoldy, The Christian Science Monitor
March 7, 2008
New York; and Oakland, Calif. - The stern, determined portrait of
Uncle Sam, announcing "I want you," glares out at potential recruits
from the military recruiting station in Times Square. Only this time,
there is a blackened and distorted doorway next to it – the result of
an early-morning bomb on Thursday.
Officials say that such efforts are not going to deter them: Military
recruiting stations remain one of the main ways to meet enlistment
quotas. Military officials also maintain that the centers are part of
the fabric of America – a way for civilians to interact with members
of the armed services.
"Sometimes it's the only military presence in a community," says Lt.
Col. Anne Edgecomb, a spokeswoman for the US Army, which has 1,650
recruiting centers in the United States. "It may be the only way to
see someone in uniform and is crucial for the volunteer Army."
However, there have been some isolated incidents at recruiting
stations, aside from the bombing. Last month, 2,000 protesters
descended on Berkeley, Calif., many in support of the military, after
the City Council voted 6 to 3 to draft a letter to local Marine
recruiters calling them unwelcome intruders. The council had also
pledged to facilitate protests by the antiwar group Code Pink outside
the downtown Marine recruiting office.
The council's action garnered attention nationally, prompting a
deluge of e-mails and phone calls to city hall. Six Republican US
senators threatened to cut federal funding for some Berkeley programs.
Police in riot gear broke up street confrontations and arrested four
protesters. The city council eventually rescinded the letter. Still,
antiwar protests continue, while local businesses complain of a
boycott by some residents upset that the City Council has not
apologized for the original letter vote.
In December, students in Jericho, Vt., organized a protest against
military recruitment in their schools, particularly the handover of
their contact information by school officials. About 40 protesters
entered an Army National Guard recruiting office and some refused to
leave, resulting in 13 arrests.
Activists in Madison, Wis., meanwhile, have led an effort to help
high school students and parents withhold contact information from
military recruiters. A local organization called Truth and
Alternatives to Militarism in Education – TAME – has been telling
parents and students that they are able to remove their names from
lists that schools must provide to the military under the No Child
Left Behind Act. Last year, more than 2,000 Madison high school
students removed themselves from the lists amid allegations from some
students that the recruiters had grown pushy.
Yet overall, many public officials maintain that recruiting stations
are welcome in their communities. On Thursday, Mayor Michael
Bloomberg of New York, at a press conference near the bombing site,
said he was "thrilled" to have the recruiting station in the city.
"It's in Times Square, the crossroads of the world, and that sends a
message," he stated.
According to Army officials, the bombed station, which had been
rebuilt in 1998, signs up about 30 recruits a year. Two Army
recruiters, as well as members of the other services, work out of the
station, visiting colleges and high schools.
The station also has a certain amount of historical interest since it
was the nation's first one-stop joint recruiting facility when it
opened in May 1946. According to the Army, it is one of the busiest
walk-in offices in the nation.
It's not unusual for recruiting centers to get vandalized, officials
say. "We get government cars keyed and tires slashed," says Colonel
Edgecomb. "We're not sure if it's war protesters or kids."
The vandalism adds to recruitment challenges. In testimony this
January, Maj. Gen. Thomas Bostick told a Senate hearing it would be a
slog to meet the Army's goals of 80,000 new volunteers for the
regular Army and 26,500 for the Army Reserve.
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