Transcript Slide 1

Neither College Nor The Military?
Career Counseling for Alternative Pathways After High School
Janine Schwab
Peace and Conflict Resolution
Goal Leadership Unit
American Friends Service Committee
[email protected]
215-241-7165
www.afsc.org
IT’S MY LIFE: A
GUIDE TO
ALTERNATIVES
AFTER HIGH
SCHOOL
Do you counsel young
people who lack
direction and resources?
Do you counsel young
people who are idealistic
and have ideas about
how the world should be
but lack an outlet?
Do you counsel young
people who are under
pressure to either go to
college or join the
military and want to do
neither?
Service Does Not Have to Mean
Military Service
Young people often need
extra help with finding
civilian careers that
provide a sense of
purpose.
IT’S MY LIFE Has Suggestions For..
•Finding adventure
•Transitioning to adulthood
•Saving money for college
•Skills training
•Finding a career or even just a job
•Service opportunities
Common Reasons For Joining the
Military
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Patriotism and sense of duty
Interest in military careers and warfare
Financial obligations
Sense that the military will “take care of me”
Educational benefits
Health care, housing and meals
Skills Training
Discipline
Promises of citizenship
Problems With Uninformed
Enlistment
• Young people overestimate what the military will do
for them – the military will get them in shape, go to
college for them, and find them a job when they get
out!
• The government leverages their slender benefits
package as a recruiting tool, while actually
guaranteeing very little and underfunding crucial
agencies like the VA that administer the benefits.
Making the decision to join the military should
be done with careful thought, not just
because of personal crisis.
Risks of Serving in the Military
Short term
•Delaying college
•Injury
•Death
•Sexual assault
•Loss of control
Long term
•Disability
•Mental health issues and PTSD
•Dishonorable discharge
•Transfer of skills is not guaranteed
Barriers to Making a Fully Informed
Choice About Enlistment
• Lack of information
• Recruiters are under intense pressure to “make
the sale” and they leave things out
• Young people often join under pressure in the
“heat of the moment”
• Lack of civilian participation in military life
• Lack of resources at schools to monitor
enlistment situations
We’ll think about your future for
you!
Barriers to Finding Alternatives
•Leadership and job programs for young people are
underfunded, especially when compared with the
budget for recruiting (20.5 Billion in 2009)
•Lack of experience in the world of work
•School’s natural focus on academic achievement
and college readiness
•Lack of health care, housing, strong family structure
•Personal crisis
•Low income
IT’S MY LIFE! helps students to step back,
ignore the pressure and think about what
they really want in life.
What do Recruiters Leave Out?
• Students are routinely
told that they will not
be deployed
• 12-20% of Iraq vets
suffer serious
psychological problems
related to service
• Women are told they
will not see combat
• Enlistees are not
advised of the high
sexual assault rates in
the military including
“combat rape” and
Military Sexual Trauma
23% of all women
veterans report sexual
assault while serving
Resources Exist to Help
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www.afsc.org
Recruiter Abuse Hotline
GI Rights Hotline
www.nnomy.org
US Military Guide
www.tamewisconsin.org
(for Wisconsin)
• Before You Enlist video
• It’s My Life book
• “Do You Know Enough
to Enlist” brochure
• Questions for Military
Recruiters
What Else?
• Service members are
not permitted to sue
the military, no matter
how egregious the
offense
• Reserve soldiers can
expect to be deployed
• Multiple tours of duty
are likely
• We are currently at war
• College ROTC programs
allow young people to
train as an officer at a
higher pay grade while
completing college on
time
What else?
• College graduates may
be eligible for loan
repayment if they enlist
and may be able to go
into Officer Candidate
School
• Separation from the
DEP is easy and there
are no consequences
unless the person tries
to enlist in the same
service later
• The VA system is
underfunded and any
benefits like health care
or college money may
be hard to come by
• Money for college is not
guaranteed and not
automatic and can be
denied
If a young person is getting heavily recruited,
sometimes a reality check is in order.
How Can Career Counselors Help?
•Remind young people of
the true purpose of the
military – it is not a jobs
program!
•Learn as much about the
enlistment process as
possible.
• Help the student and
parents review the promises
the recruiter is making
What Else Can Counselors Do?
• Ask questions - lots of them
• Make sure enlistees understand not to lie on the
enlistment form
• Understand military DEP regulations
• Make sure students know about other options to
learn skills and fulfill their financial obligations.
• Don’t try to change their mind, but be an effective
advocate and listener.
• Help students who are being bothered by recruiting
calls and visits. Recruiters can be very invasive!
• Know who to call for help
Regulating Recruitment
• Make the ASVAB voluntary
• Limit recruiter visits to the counseling office
• End classroom presentations – schools are for
learning
• Limit recruiters from “roaming the halls”
• Provide opt out forms to parents and students,
preferably on the emergency card
• Don’t allow recruiters to pull students from class
• Check in to see if students are being harassed
• Invite groups to come and present alternative
options
Why Doesn’t Recruiting Work?
• Fundamentally, military recruitment is a sales job.
Career counseling is NOT the primary function of a
recruiter.
• Recruiting targets are often set too high and are
based on demand and not supply.
• Pressure to increase enlistment can have recruiters
working 12-18 hours a day, 6-7 days a week without
break.
• A recruiter has little control over the ultimate fate of
the persons he or she enlists. If something goes
wrong, the enlistee is already stuck.
More…
• Recruiters are often young and inexperienced
soldiers who have been involuntarily reassigned to
recruiting duty.
• The pressure to succeed can make a recruiter more
receptive to using fraudulent means to enlist.
• We regulate college sports recruitment better than
we regulate military recruitment even though the
stakes are much higher!
• Educators and parents often have no direct
knowledge of the military.
And…once in the military, it’s
extremely difficult to get out!
You belong to the Army
now, son!!!
Through games like
America’s Army, movies,
music and mobile
recruiting trucks and
Hummers the military
“sells” a glamorized idea
about the military, but the
reality is anything but
glamorous.
What Else Should School
Counselors Be Concerned About?
• JROTC (Junior Reserve
Officer Training Corps)
• ASVAB/CEP
• JAMRS and NCLB
Recruiter Provision
• Understanding the GI
Bill Benefits
• Understanding contract
and the DEP/FSTP
JROTC
• Junior ROTC students may be
under particular pressure to
join the military
• JROTC students should be
made aware of the college
ROTC route, but that does not
always happen
• In some schools JROTC is
involuntary and takes space on
the roster from college prep
courses
ASVAB/CEP
• ASVAB is the military entrance
exam
• In some schools, ASVAB is
mandatory
• Students do not always know that
their scores will be forwarded to
the military
• The ASVAB student testing
program exists solely to provide
“prequalified leads” to military
recruiters
USMEPCOM Regulation 601-4, November 13, 2006
Personnel Procurement
Student Testing Program
Table 3-1
Recruiter Release Options
Option Instructions for providing access to student test information to
recruiting services
Provide student test information to recruiting services:
1 no sooner than 7 days after mailed to school
2 no sooner than 60 days after mailed to school
3 no sooner than 90 days after mailed to school
4 no sooner than 120 days after mailed to school
5 no sooner than the end of the SY for that specific school or 30 June
6 no sooner than 7 days after mailed to school with instruction that no
telephone solicitation by recruiters will be conducted as a result
of test information provided
7 Invalid test results. Student test information is not provided to recruiting
services
8 Access to student test information is not provided to recruiting services
Other Student Privacy Concerns
• Schools have been
mandated by the NCLB
Recruiter Access
Provision to allow
recruiters the same
access to students as
college and work
recruiters and also
provide the name
address and telephone
numbers of students
upon requests.
• JAMRS is a database
contracted by the
government to provide
contact information
about young people for
recruiting purposes.
• There is an Opt Out
provision in NCLB to opt
out of school lists BUT
that will not opt a
student out of JAMRS
lists.
Navigating GI Bill Benefits
• The GI Bill is changing and right now it’s not totally
clear exactly how the new Post 9/11 GI Bill could
benefit your students
• The new bill has clear advantages over the old
with some exceptions like no provision for
vocational or technical training
• There is no way to know before a person’s term of
service ends how much money will be available
and whether they will qualify
• In the meantime, they have delayed college, costs
are higher and they may be in a different life
circumstance that makes college impossible.
The Enlistment Contract/DEP
• The enlistment contract is binding on the student,
not the military
• If an enlistee changes his or her mind while still in
the DEP/FSTP, military policy is to separate them
• Get it in writing if it’s been promised!
• Joining the military removes civilian privileges and
rights
• The term of enlistment is ALWAYS 8 years for a firsttime enlistee
• Service can be extended and reactivated in time of
war