Beyond Brainless Flag-Waving

If you took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test in high school and signed a waiver that allowed the US Army to use the information, the results of your test were sent to local recruiters in the form of the ASVAB Recruiter Service Printout. The printout is a list of students who took the test, their scores, contact information (name, grade, sex, address, and phone number), and information about the students' plans after graduation. The ASVAB shows the areas a student has excelled in or has already received training in, not the areas the student would be good at if given training. The ASVAB is not an aptitude test. It does not plumb a student’s potential. It shows where the student has been, not where he could go. Therefore, women who don’t get good scores in math or mechanics will be unlikely to receive training in these areas in the military even if they have an innate ability in those areas. Similarly, if a student has never done mechanical work and doesn’t receive a good score in that area, he will be unlikely to receive training in the Army in jobs requiring mechanical ability, even if he has potential in that area. You don’t have to take the ASVAB test although many schools do not tell you that. If you take the test you can request that the scores not be sent to the military. Although, since the ASVAB is useless for gauging career potential, its only real purpose is as a military recruiting tool. Ergo, it’s silly to take the three-hour test for any reason other than having it used by the military. If acing the ASVAB is really important, countless Internet sites provide courses in how to pass the ASVAB with flying colors. There is a clause (SEC 9528) in the No Child Left Behind Act that states, “Each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to post secondary educational institutions or to prospective employers of those students." This means that the military is given all personal information on all students in schools that receive No Child Left Behind funds. However, you can fill out an opt-out form and the information will be withheld from the military. And let’s take a look at some facts about Selective Service. People are scared to death the draft will be reinstated--and with good reason. The Department of Defense and the US military has so bungled the war in Iraq that our volunteer army has been depleted and ill-used. These are the facts about the Selective Service: The Selective Service System is an independent federal agency operating with permanent authorization under the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 451 et seq.). It is not part of the Department of Defense. But its reason for being is to provide emergency manpower for the Military by drafting untrained men and personnel with professional health care skills when so directed by Congress and the President in a national crisis. It also has a mission to be ready to provide an alternative service program, in place of military service for those who are classified as conscientious objectors. The Selective Service System calls itself “America's proven and time-tested hedge against underestimating the number of active duty and Reserve Component military personnel needed in a future conflict.” During peacetime, the Selective Service depends on “part-time personnel and volunteers throughout the United States to keep viable the Nation's ability to conduct a draft that would be timely, fair, and equitable in a crisis.” But, the Selective Service info says, “As a part of that readiness, virtually all men in the U.S. are required to register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Men must be registered to be in compliance with federal law and stay eligible for student loans and grants, government jobs, job training, all security background clearances, and U.S. citizenship for immigrants. “Today, the Selective Service System continues to satisfy its statutory obligations while providing the only time-tested mechanism to backup the all-volunteer military when needed.” With the Bush administration in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan, and threatening to nuke Iran, it is not unreasonable to assume that the draft will be reinstituted. The SS says it’s a hedge against “underestimating” the number of personnel needed “in a future conflict”. Our government has done nothing but underestimate everything about the war in Iraq. And certainly the number of personnel needed is the most egregious underestimation of all. Every seventeen-year-old needs to inform himself about every aspect of the US military: From shady recruitment practices, to being a conscientious objector. And since failure to register with the Selective Service will prevent a person from receiving federal financial aid, federal job training, up to $250,000 in fines and five years in jail, it probably behooves a man to register. The draft is not only a possibility, but if John McCain becomes president, you can count on the draft being reinstituted. Oh…and about that sex change. If you were born a female and had a sex change you don’t have to register. But all persons born male, whether they still have their equipment or not, have to register with Selective Service. Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t peek, don’t freak!