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Pacifist Organizations that Promoted Counter-recruitment

Super User 04 November 2024

10/08/2024 / NNOMY.ORG - Internationally, pacifist groups have fostered activism through education or direct action against war and advocated for peace. Some of these groups have participated actively or tangentially in counter-recruitment activism with youth in their communities either inside religious, community, or school settings.

Below is a survey of pacifist groups that were asked if they had any involvement with counter-recruitment activism in their outreach.

Though the search is “first world and English-Centric,” there are few exceptions and this list in not conclusive of all the type of counter-recruitment activism that has gone on in this world.

The information below was sourced utilizing MSN Copilot AI asking “What have been the organizations name counter-recruitment efforts? The listings below indicate whether the organization was “Not directly” or “Actively involved” in counter-recruitment activism.

America isn’t ready for another war — because it doesn’t have the troops

Super User 03 November 2024

The US military’s recruiting crisis, explained.

Sep 1, 2024 / Gil Barndollar and Matthew C. Mai / Vox - Coverage of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza is mostly dominated by talk of weapons. Reporters and analysts focus on suicide drones, on shell deficits, on targeting algorithms. But for all the attention devoted to modern weapons and munitions, both conflicts are proving that modern war still comes down to people.

In Ukraine, battlefield deaths on both sides were estimated to number more than 200,000 by the fall of 2023. Though US weapons and munitions have been critical to Kyiv’s war effort, it was territorial militias and hastily trained citizen-soldiers who helped save Ukraine from total conquest in 2022.

At the same time, it was a partial mobilization of more than 300,000 troops that stabilized Russia’s lines and prevented a potential collapse in late 2022. Today, the war has settled into an attritional slugfest, with both sides desperate to keep the flow of new recruits going, to the point where ranks have opened to older men, women, and convicts.

The situation is much the same in the Middle East. On October 7, Israel’s heavily automated Gaza perimeter was breached by well-trained but low-tech Hamas terrorists. The attack was eventually repulsed by conscript soldiers and armed volunteers — even in the “start-up nation” that prides itself on its technological prowess, security depends first and foremost on people. Similar to the Russian mobilization before the invasion of Ukraine, the immediate calling up of 360,000 reservists enabled Israel to conduct its campaign against Hamas and deter other non-state foes in the West Bank and Lebanon.

Growing Movement to Ban the Military from Schools

Carole Seligman 26 September 2024

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.

Challenging Military Sexual Violence

A Guide to Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Policies in the US Armed Forces for Servicemembers, MSV Survivors and Their Advocates

Sexual assault and sexual harassment have long been serious problems in the armed forces. In recent years, the issue has received far more notice and it is now generally acknowledged that the problem is – and likely always has been — epidemic.

The Military Law Task Force

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What Every Young Woman Should Know About the Military

A Brochure for Young Women Thinking About Joining the Military | 2022

"When I joined, I knew that women in the military faced an uphill battle, but I didn't fully understand how serious the issues were and how reluctant leadership is to doing anything about it.

The truth is that there's a culture of harassment and assault that is incredibly harmful to all troops, but especially to gender minorities."
Brittany Ramos DeBarros

Brochure - 30Mar22 Ver (w bleed).pdf

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