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Suzanne M. Smith, Research Associate with the National Priorities Project (NPP), obtained the census data and generated the chart below. The NPP online database provides current and historical federal expenditure data on military and social programs, along with needs indicators by state and county. NPP, 17 New South St. #302, Norhtampton, MA 01060; 413/584-9556, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., <www.nationalpriorities.org>. Sam Diener obtained the Army data presented here and summarized it below.

Peacework Magazine has obtained demographic data on Army enlistments for fiscal year 2004 (October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2004). Peacework and the National Priorities Project are working together to analyze these data and make them accessible to activists across the country.

The National Priorities Project and Peacework will make it possible for local activists to determine the demographics of the enlistees entering the Army from each school in their area. These analyses are not yet available. In the meantime, Peacework is publishing some preliminary aggregate data.

57% of Military Personnel Who Signed Up Have Received Nothing - Average Net Payout to Veterans: Less than $2200

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June-July 2005 / Sam Diener and intern Jamie Munro / Peacework / AFSC -  The advertisements blare: Join the military and receive $70,000 for college! This bonus program, known as the Montgomery GI Bill - Army/Navy College Fund, is in reality, according to an August 27, 2004 press release from the US Army Recruiting Command, only available to those who qualify with high test scores, sign up for what the military deems "critical" military specialties (critical usually means hardest to fill and least desirable), and enlist for at least six years of active military duty. Approximately 95% of those who enter the military are not eligible for this maximum amount.

In fact, 57% of the veterans who signed up for the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) have never seen a penny in college assistance, and the average net payout to veterans has been only $2151. Primarily, the low average net is the result of the many military personnel who the Department of Defense (DoD) declares ineligible, and of the challenges faced by veterans trying to access the promised money even if they are eligible.

To be eligible for the MGIB, members of the military have to stay in for at least three years of active duty (except for a select few who qualify for a two-year active duty stint), and need to receive an honorable discharge. All enlisted military personnel are required to have $100 deducted from their salary for the first 12 months they are in the military to help pay for the program, unless they sign special forms opting out. This "deposit" is non-refundable. If the member of the military is later ruled ineligible (see below), they lose the $1200. The only circumstance in which the $1200 is refunded is if the enlistee dies on active duty. In that event, their next of kin will receive a refund.

March 2005 • Vol 5, No. 3 / Carole Seligman / SocialistViewpoint - As the devastation of Iraq continues, the antiwar movement is sinking roots in localities all around the United States from demonstrations and vigils, teach-ins, ballot measures, and town meetings (such as the recent series of town meetings all over the state of Vermont that voted to end Vermont National Guard Troops from being sent to Iraq.) Now, added to this broad antiwar movement, there is a mushrooming campaign to deny the U.S. military—all branches—the ability to recruit on high school and college campuses through direct recruitment programs and the para-mlilitary organization, Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC).

This campaign is taking place at a crucial juncture: The U.S. Army and the Marines have announced that they have failed to meet their current recruitment goals and there is discussion in the mainstream media about the meaning of this development. Recruitment of Black soldiers is reported to be down 41% since 2000. This reflects a strong anti-war consciousness among African-Americans.

The movement to stop military recruitment in schools is taking many forms including direct action taken by students against military recruitment; demonstrations at recruitment events and military propaganda tables, counter-recruitment trainings and activities where students learn techniques for answering the lies of military recruiters and try instead to recruit students to the antiwar movement, or to college and careers instead of the military, recruiting students to consider becoming conscientious objectors, and more. A new group of college students called “College Not Combat” has formed in the S.F. Bay Area to fight military recruitment on college campuses.

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November 24, 2002 / Elaine Rivera / Washington Post - Christopher Schmitt is careful to protect his son from companies that want to give the teenager credit cards or sell him sneakers. So at this year’s parents night at his son’s Fairfax County high school, Schmitt was dismayed to see a new form in the usual stack of permission slips and reminders.

This one invited him to sign if he wanted his son’s name, address and telephone number withheld from the Pentagon. Otherwise, the information would be included in a directory of the school’s juniors and seniors that will be given upon request to military recruiters.

Schmitt signed the form — quickly.

“Most people probably missed [the form], and it’ll probably be too late,” Schmitt said. “There is a commodity with your consumer history. With the military, the commodity happens to be your children’s information. . . . Once there’s a point of entry, you don’t know where the information is going to go.”

High schools across the nation must provide the directory — what one school official called “a gold mine of a list” — under a sleeper provision in the new No Child Left Behind Act, which was enacted this year. Military officials pushed for it to counter a steady decline in the number of people who inquire about enlisting.