Should military recruiters be allowed in high schools? Public schools that accept federal funds are required by law to give access to military recruiters.

• Author: Smith, S. Douglas
• Position: DEBATE

YES

The United States has had an all-volunteer military since the draft was abolished in 1973. That means the military depends entirely on recruiters to attract an educated, highly sophisticated, and well-trained force to defend our nation and win our wars.

Visits to high schools and access to school-directory information are critical to our recruiters' efforts--particularly because our standards require new soldiers to have a high school diploma or better.

The presence of military recruiters in high schools does not force students to join the military; it simply alerts them to an option.

We want to make sure every high school student is aware of the career and training opportunities the military has to offer--everything from being in the infantry to learning how to work high-tech equipment or be a medical technician.

Using student lists, the local recruiter can contact students, discuss their goals, and encourage them to stay in school and graduate. Recruiters can then follow up with those students interested in pursuing the military as a career option.

Recruiters also visit schools to inform educators about the services the military has to offer to all students, even those not interested in the military. We have free programs to improve test-taking skills and to help students find careers that suit their talents.

Our recruiters need the same access to students as employers and colleges, so that both students and educators are informed that military service is a viable career option.

S. Douglas Smith, Spokesman

U.S. Army Recruiting Command

NO

Right now, recruiters desperate for warm bodies to be shipped to Iraq are prowling selected high schools and neighborhoods across the country with sales pitches that touch on everything but the possibility of being maimed...