COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Youth of Color
Role models or recruiters? Expanding JROTC still has critics
Kimberly Atkins, Boston Herald
October 18, 2005
Ardens Myrthil wanted to join the Marine Junior ROTC program as a freshman at Madison Park High School, but he knew the idea wouldn't go over well at home.``I knew how my parents would be about it,'' said Myrthil, 19. Now a senior, he joined the program last year. The Haitian-born Mattapan teen said his family was afraid JROTC was a ticket to war.
``For me it's about the camaraderie and the values we learn,'' he said. Cadets know enlisting is ``their own decision.''
Enrollment in JROTC in programs here and nationwide has boomed in recent years, particularly in cities such as Worcester, Lawrence and Boston, which has a program in nearly every high school. Nationwide there are nearly 1,900 active JROTC programs, up from 1,630 five years ago, with hundreds of schools on waiting lists to join.
Critics say the program is an early recruiting tool. But school and military officials say JROTC doesn't recruit. They say the academic curriculum and non-combative drill exercises instill honor, commitment and respect in students, many of whom have little structure in their lives.
``In some cases, I become a surrogate father to them,'' said Sgt. Robert Kujawa, who runs the Lawrence High School Army JROTC program, adding that only 3 percent of the 160 kids in the program go on to enlist. ``Some of the kids don't have a parent, or they only have one parent and they need someone to look up to.''
But Bill Sweet of the American Friends Service Committee in Cambridge said the program's military style itself pushes kids – especially minorities, immigrants and poorer students – into thinking the military is their ticket to the future.
``They are sitting there in uniform, back up straight, they can't talk back to the teacher, and there is no compromise,'' said Sweet. ``That is a form of recruitment.''
``Then the East Boston High football team is a recruitment tool for the NFL, I guess,'' countered retired Lt. Col. Gerald Wellman. He said East Boston's program grew from a handful of students to more than 400 since 1992 – but only three enlisted last year. At Madison Park High in Roxbury, Master Gunnery Sgt. Patrick Clougher noted that only five enlisted last year, but he said, ``What these kids learn will make them successful no matter what they do.''
Myrthil said he will enlist after graduation – but he wasn't pushed. He said the Marines are a step to a career in aviation management. ``Once I'm done, I'll be able to prove I can do anything.''
who was 6 when she traveled through the Southern California desert with her mother to enter America illegally. "Nobody can kick me out of here.
My rights will be defended."
In exchange, Quintero-Espinoza and her comrades assumed
responsibilities and risks, including being sent to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan. Phone,
24, the airman first class who came from Burma in 2002, didn't hesitate to
volunteer to serve a nation willing to help him get ahead in life.
"I would be grateful to meet somebody who offers you what you want" in
return for accepting an obligation, said Phone, who became a citizen
about
two years after enlisting. "That's fair -- totally fair -- I think."
A history of service
That deal, with the promise of naturalization, has appealed to millions
of
immigrants and the military throughout American history. The Army, in
particular, has sought out and relied on immigrant recruits, especially
during wars.
In the 1840s, almost half of all recruits were not U.S. citizens, said
Conrad Crane, director of the Army Military History Institute at the
Army
War College in Carlisle, Penn. "They're just right off the boat,
basically."
During the Civil War, the government promised citizenship to
immigrants,
and recruiters sailed overseas to make the pitch. Noncitizens
constituted
as much as 20 percent of the 1.5 million-man Union Army.
"Some of them were attracted, of course, by glory; some of them by a
chance
for adventure," Crane said. "For a lot of them, citizenship is the
promise."
So many immigrants populated the ranks during World War I that the Army
was
dubbed the "American foreign legion" in Europe. After the war, an Army
unit
of 14 nationalities toured the United States to recruit immigrants,
touting
the promise of naturalization.
Many immigrants fought in World War II, but patriotism more than
citizenship drove enlistment, Crane said. Conscription also helped fill
the
ranks and continued to do so until the all-volunteer military returned
in
the 1970s.
Military resource
Given that history, Bush's executive order fast-tracking citizenship
was no
surprise, Crane said. With the Iraq war in its fourth year and military
recruiters struggling, speedy naturalization can attract volunteers and
is
a fitting reward.
"When times get tough to fill the Army and immigrants are available,
they're a resource," Crane said.
Despite raising enlistment bonuses and offering other new incentives,
the
Army has had a tough time attracting people. It missed its target last
year
by 6,600 recruits. April was its worst month effort since last summer.
The military typically accepts only U.S. citizens or legal residents.
Illegal immigrants have slipped in, in some cases with fake citizenship
or
immigration documents, said Stock, the U.S. military academy professor.
As a result of Bush's order, illegal immigrants serving honorably on
active
duty and meeting other requirements are eligible to apply for
citizenship,
Stock said. Also, a new law gives the military the authority to enlist
at
any time anyone, even an illegal immigrant, whose enlistment is deemed
"vital to the national interest."
"They could form a foreign legion right now," Stock said. "I get calls
all
the time from illegal immigrants who want to join the military."
For the most part, recruiters have not targeted noncitizens, said
Douglas
Smith, spokesman for the Army's recruiting command. Recruiting that
targets
populations of noncitizens likely accounts for at least some of the
noncitizen recruits, he said.
California's Army National Guard recruiters do not systematically seek
noncitizens, Guard officials said. They do point out that soldiers can
get
on the naturalization fast track, said spokeswoman Lt. Toni Gray.
"For us, noncitizens contribute valuable language and cultural
expertise,"
Gray said. "The value of their skills, however, is often surpassed by
their
sincere appreciation and commitment to our nation."
Noncitizens have been military standouts, according to a May 2005 study
by
the Center for Naval Analyses, a federally funded research organization
serving the military. For instance, they are about half as likely as
their
U.S.-born comrades to wash out before completing their enlistment.
The military's need for foreign-language speakers recently spurred the
Army
to relax enlistment requirements, including maximum age and English
proficiency, to attract people with such native skills, reported the
Center
for Naval Analyses.
Opposition
Not everyone is pleased at the prospect of increasing the number of
noncitizens in the military.
Among the critics is Krikorian, head of the group that wants stricter
immigration controls. What concerns him is the potential for the
combination of military needs and political pressure from immigration
advocates to widen the ranks and expand benefits for noncitizens.
"This is one of those feel-good issues, at least for politicians," he
said.
"There's no reason that it wouldn't be tacked on to an immigration
bill, if
one were to come up."
Krikorian hasn't much of an argument, says Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El
Monte,
who favors expanded benefits for noncitizen soldiers. The California
congresswoman said immigrants have proved their value to the military
and
have earned their benefits.
"I think he's barking up the wrong tree," Solis said.
Spc. Cristianne Silva, 29, said enlisting in the California Army
National
Guard helped her complete a journey that began eight years ago, when
she
left her native Brazil and illegally entered America in search of a
better
life.
After cleaning houses and doing other jobs, Silva hired an immigration
lawyer and became a legal resident. She learned that her military
service
could help her become a citizen after she joined the Army in 2003 and
was
sent to Iraq.
"I'm still, actually, kind of shocked that I have accomplished this,"
said
Silva, who was naturalized in April in Sacramento.
"After so long of dreaming, now, finally, I can say: Yes, I am a
citizen."
Times staff writer Steven Harmon contributed to this story. Reach Dogen
Hannah at 925-945-4794 or dhannah@cctimes.com.
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