COMD Links

Description: The National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force includes attorneys, legal workers, law students and “Barracks lawyers” interested in draft, military and veterans issues. It is a standing project of the National Lawyers Guild. MLTF assists those working on military law issues as well as military law counselors working directly with GIs. It trains and mentors counselors and beginning military law attorneys in all aspects of military law through training materials and direct communication. It tracks changes in military law and policy. The Task Force publishes ON WATCH, produces interim mailings on legal and political issues for Task Force members, sponsors seminars and workshops on draft, military and veterans law, produces educational materials on these issues, and provides support for members on particular cases or projects. It sponsors legal and educational work on military dissent, the rights of servicemembers, and challenges to oppressive military policies.

Description: Since 1994, the GI Rights Hotline has been providing free, confidential, and accurate information on US military regulations and practices to servicemembers, veterans, potential recruits, and their families. We are a consortium of nearly twenty non-governmental, non-profit organizations located in eleven states and in Germany. Some of our counselors are veterans, some are lawyers and some have decades of military counseling experience. We are in constant contact with each other to stay up-to-date on the latest military regulations and practices. We provide resources and counseling options. Many of us are not lawyers and therefore cannot give legal advice, but, in cases in which an attorney might be useful, we may be able to help you find one.

Description: NNOMY (National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth) is a national networking body that brings together national, regional and local organizations to oppose the growing intrusion of the military in young people's lives. NNOMY will endeavor to: promote communication and sharing of organizing skills and resources; stimulate collaboration between network members on projects that would advance our collective goals; facilitate nationally coordinated actions and campaigns; strengthen youth-led efforts on campuses and in communities; and educate the broader activist community and general public on the need to become involved in these efforts.

Description: Founded in 1984, Project YANO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization that provides young people with an alternative point of view about military enlistment. Some of our members are armed forces veterans who believe that high school students are getting a distorted picture of the military and war from recruiting ads and marketing. In particular, we are concerned that many low-income students and students of color are being diverted away from higher education and into the military, where they are found in disproportionate numbers. In our base community of San Diego County, Project YANO sends speakers to youth groups and local schools to talk about the realities of military life and war so that young people will better understand what is behind the armed forces sales pitch. As an alternative, students are given nonmilitary options for local job training and college financial aid. Project YANO also urges youths to become community activists and consider pursuing careers in social change.

Description: The Resource Center for Nonviolence, founded in 1976, is a peace and justice organization promoting the practice of nonviolent social change. Located in Santa Cruz, California, we cultivate relationships with allies around California, across the United States, in Latin America, the Middle East and elsewhere. Our primary mission is to support the growth of nonviolent activists. The Center hosts activists and analysts from nonviolent struggles around the world. And the Center is a venue for social change groups and non-profit organizations to conduct meetings and public events in its 200-seat Scott Kennedy Hall or its Community Room.

Description: Learning About Conscientious Objection Quaker House does workshops and presentations for young adults who are exploring the concept of conscientious objection and how it may relate to them as well as for adults who may be supporting them in a leadership capacity.

Description: The National Resistance Committee (NRC) was formed in 1980 to oppose registration and the draft, and was active through the 1990-1991 USA-Iraq Gulf War. The NRC was founded at a meeting at the Women's Building in San Francisco on 1 March 1980. The first issue of Resistance News was published two days later, and distributed at the national mobilization against the draft on 22 March 1980, where speakers advocating resistance to registration included Davis Harris ("I Picked Prison Over Fighting in Vietnam") and Dave Dellinger at the East Coast march and rally in Washington, DC, and Fred Moore of the NRC at the West Coast march and rally in San Francisco. An organizing meeting for regional and local NRC activities and affiliates in the East and Midwest was held the day after the mobilization, 23 March 1980, in Washington, DC. The stated goals of the National Resistance Committee were: To resist current U.S. preparations for conscription and war by encouraging those of draft age to refuse registration. To sponsor and promote nonviolent demonstrations and civil disobedience to oppose draft registration. To build a grass-roots movement by collecting pledges of nonregistration, distributing literature, holding public actions, forming support groups, and working with existing organizations to resist registration.