news story / By Japhet Weeks

First to Contact, First to Contract

A proposed ordinance in Arcata and Eureka would force military recruiters to rethink their strategy — if the ordinance is constitutional, that is

(April 17, 2008)  Dave Meserve started thinking about the influence military recruiters exert on young people in the community a couple of years ago. He was sitting in a coffee shop one morning when a recruiter walked in with three high school-aged girls. “He bought them sweet coffee drinks,” the former Arcata City Councilmember recalled in an interview last week. Then the National Guard recruiter began “painting a very rosy picture” of military service. He even assured the girls, Meserve says, that “there would be almost zero chance that they would be called to serve in Iraq.” Meserve wrote his phone number down on three pieces of paper and handed them to the girls. He said he could put them in touch with veterans if they wanted another perspective on serving in the military.

The US Army Recruiting Command has a motto: “First to contact, first to contract.” A 2004 school recruiting program handbook gives recruiters all sorts of advice as to how to best get their foot into the door of their local high school: “Offer to be a chaperon for or escort for homecoming activities and coronations”; “Deliver donuts and coffee for faculty once a month”; “Eat lunch in the school cafeteria several times each month”; “Know your student influencers.” In short, “[T]he good HS [high school] program is a proactive one; the early bird gets the worm.”

Armed Forces and US Coast Guard Recruiting Center in Eureka. Photo by Yulia Weeks.

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Reached on his cell phone last week, Douglas Smith, spokesperson for US Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Ky., said these techniques are still standard practice among recruiters. “Going into high schools and being able to talk to high school juniors and seniors is very important,” he said. “Recruiters have to plant the seed.”

Six months ago — and in light of the military’s proactive recruiting techniques — Meserve drafted a citizen’s initiative — the Youth Protection Act — which, if passed, would make it illegal for recruiters to initiate contact with minors anywhere in Arcata and Eureka, even over the phone. Recruiters would be subject to a $100 fine for each infraction. Minors would still be able to contact recruiters on their own, and recruiters would be allowed to set up tables on school campuses. But it would draw a clear line in the sand between the community’s young people and the military personnel who try to recruit them.

“We have community standards,” Meserve said, “and when the actions of the federal government violate our community standards — especially with regards to our youth — it’s our responsibility to act on their behalf.”

The one problem with Meserve’s legislative solution to what he considers an “illegal” war in Iraq is that it may be unconstitutional. Still, Meserve has tried to learn from the mistakes of counter-recruiting activists from both coasts in drafting the proposed law.

The most recent clash between recruiters and community members occurred in Berkeley, where, at the beginning of the year, the City Council told local Marine Corps recruiters they were “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” The declaration led to a strident backlash, not just from active-duty soldiers, veterans and their friends and family, but even from critics of the Iraq war who felt the city council had gone too far.

Meserve is quick to distance himself from what happened in Berkeley. “Berkeley’s approach is entirely different, and one thing I want to … make very clear,” he said, “is how different it is because our approach is specifically gauged at not being anti-military and merely focuses on the inappropriateness of … initiating contact with anyone under the age of 18.”

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