ASVAB, the military, your children and OPTION 8

I'm fighting what fells like a flu, so nothing seems to work right. When I get my fever down and end the squishy feeling, I'll write something more together about the counter recruitment conference in Chicago and I'll try to fix these somewhat dysfunctional posts.

I was unable to download the Power Point presentation. However, if you follow the "click here's" you will be able to download the ASVAB presentation. I think it's worth watching. The military is devious in it's effort to pull our kids into the armed forces. See what is happening to our children in the militarization of our schools. Pay attention to OPTION 8.

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)

Confronting Military Testing in the High Schools

With 11,900 high schools administering the ASVAB last year, most in direct violation of federal and state laws, and more than 1,000 schools forcing students to take the test without parental knowledge or consent, it's not difficult enlisting the support of rational school officials to re-examine their policies toward military testing.

Nationally, 92% of the 621,000 children who took the 4-hour military test had their results and personal information forwarded to military recruiters. The pentagon is circumventing federal and state laws while administering this test in order to gain sensitive private information without parental knowledge. Unscrupulous recruiters are then able to make calls to unsuspecting youth, using a rich treasure-trove of data gained from the administration of the ASVAB.

Confronting militarism and military testing in particular is a complicated undertaking. Complex social, political, cultural, demographic, economic, military, and religious currents converge in this endeavor, creating a need to master the three-hour course below, Confronting Military Testing in the High Schools - 101. The only prerequisite for enrollment is steadfast determination.

Ready to begin?

View the power point presentation found above. Is it shocking that military testing in the schools is so pervasive? Most Americans are pretty complacent and very few are political activists. Fewer still are committed to fighting rampant militarism or protecting privacy rights. Most don't have a clue what the ASVAB is or how it is used as one of the military's most effective recruiting tools but that's changing.

Read this article by Dan Hardy of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mr Hardy filed a FOIA against the DoD and was able to land a ton of statistics regarding the 11,900 schools that offered the test.
Dan Hardy missed an important part of the equation, however, and that has to do with mandatory testing. 60,000 students in more than 1,000 high schools across the country were forced to take the ASVAB and had their information shipped to recruiters, many against their will and without parental knowledge.

What should you do?

You need to determine if the pentagon is forcing children to take the ASVAB in your town. It's an easy practice to stop. A letter to your local superintendent with a copy to your local paper has been known to do the trick.

Examine the database acquired by the Philadelphia Inquirer from the Pentagon:
Pentagon ASVAB Database

To make sure you understand the column marked “restrictions” in the database furnished by the pentagon, check out USMEPCOM Regulation 601.4 Personnel Procurement Student Testing Program 25 July, 2005, pages 12 & 13 for an explanation of the various options available to public school systems regarding ASVAB release options:USMEPCOM 601-4

Unrestricted Recruiter Contact corresponds to Option 1

No contact prior to 60 days corresponds to Option 2

No contact prior to 90 days corresponds to Option 3

No contact prior to end of school year corresponds to option 5.

No Recruiter Access corresponds to Option 8

Your job is to master this material and convince school officials to select ASVAB Option 8. You're simply arguing that the school should be abiding by federal laws that protect student privacy. If the school superintendent argues that there's a value in offering the ASVAB because it may be used to help students determine career paths; that's fine, as long as the school (or school system) selects Option 8 to insure that the test is not used as a recruiting tool.

It's all about getting schools to select Option 8.

This is not about politics or imperialism or war. It's about privacy and a constitutional clash between an overzealous federal agency and the rights of states and individuals.

If you're truly committed to reversing the militarization of American youth, this is a great way to go. It's effective and it is quantifiable and we're winning battles across the country. See the ASVAB Letter Template <<HERE>>, then scroll down.

For more information:
admin@nnomy.org

Thanks to Pat Elder and NNOMY for compiling and presenting the ASVAB information.

Military testing

The following is a national database of schools that gave the ASVAB in 2006-07 with information on how many students took the test, whether the test is mandatory and whether the results are given to the military. (this was posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2008)

Click <<HERE>> to access the Philadelphia Inquirer database.

This is for the 2006-2007 school year. Just because it wasn't included on this list doesn't mean they haven't started using the test since then.

When you get to the site, set it for your state and search for your school.