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Promises aside, read the contract
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - When high school students consider enlisting in the military to earn that promised $70,000 for college, they should read the contract — carefully.
This advice comes not only from anti-military groups, but also from the man in charge of recruitment in Maryland for the U.S. Army National Guard.
“Recruiters can say one thing, but we go over the contracts with everyone,” said Lt. Col. Nate Crum, of the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore.
“It serves no purpose to exaggerate, because you could spend 40 hours working on a person and then have them change their minds. We tell recruiters to tell prospective applicants that there’s a good chance they’re going to be deployed.”
Sometimes recruiters can’t keep their promises, including one plastered on Guard pamphlets — “Get your degree tuition free” — because the actual amount of funding that recruits receive depends on how well they score on military entrance exams, what schools offer as tuition cuts and other stipulations.
When an Examiner reporter asked an Army recruiter based in Columbia about the chances of going to Iraq, he said recruits could avoid that by choosing a certain type of job, such as one stationed on a boat.
Recruiters often cannot keep the promises of college money and avoiding war, said peace activist Scott Key, a professor in the School of Education at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, Calif.
And more teenagers are hearing these promises because the federal No Child Left Behind Act requires public schools to provide military access to students.
“Recruiters promise cash bonuses, good salaries and benefits, job training and money for college,” Key wrote in a 2006 newsletter for Rethinking Schools, a school reform group.
“Some recruiters go further, promising enlistees excitement and travel, choice of jobs and locations and anything else to convince someone to sign up. There are cases where recruiters promise enlistees that they will not have to go to Iraq.”
FAST FACTS
» About 35 percent of recruits receive education benefits from the military.
» The military spends more than $3 billion a year on advertising and recruiters.
» Recent veterans will earn between 11 percent and 19 percent less than nonveterans from comparable socioeconomic backgrounds.
» The current unemployment rate for young veterans, ages 20 to 24, is more than 15 percent, nearly twice the national average for that age group.
» Number of Army National Guard fatalities since the war in Iraq in 2003 for the nation: 423
» Number of Maryland fatalities in the Army National Guard since 2003: 5
Sources: Government Accountability Office, Department of Labor, Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, labor policy specialist Stephen Barley; icasualties.org
kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
8:44 AM MST on Fri., May. 23, 2008 re: "For many women, this school is a perfect fit"
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10:19 AM MST on Sun., Mar. 23, 2008
re: "Be in demand; become a nurse"
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7:54 PM MST on Mon., Nov. 5, 2007
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11:52 AM MST on Mon., Nov. 5, 2007
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2:53 PM MST on Sun., Oct. 28, 2007
re: "Promises aside, read the contract"
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1:19 PM MST on Mon., Oct. 22, 2007
re: "Join up, go to war, get a degree"
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re: "Loyola teaches with outside service"
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5:53 AM MST on Mon., Sep. 10, 2007
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10:10 AM MST on Mon., Apr. 23, 2007
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Examiner Reader said:
The institution is a fraud. They treat employees unfairly and they have forgotten the roots of the institution- the undergraduate women and the communal attitude. The school has become driven by profit and has turn into an old boys club. Higher-ups chum it up with each other while "lesser" staff are walked all over. The students enjoy their time, but with limited resources and budget- the school is having a hard time providing for their campus members.
3 agree | 3 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
my question is at the end of your statement you said that you don't want the most quilfied nurse to take care of you. why that just don't make sense. I just retired from the military and am looking to become a nurse and if I was some old person laying bed I would like to know that there was someone that was well quilified to take care of me. thank you for your time in reading this note
4 agree | 4 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The Maryland State Board of Nursing should let LPN's do the MD degrees not just BSN on line... The Associates On-line degree program is only 12-18 months long to complete, compared to 18-24 months for the MD. And it costs half as much to acquire....Some of our dedicated nurses are moving to other states to complete MD programs. Many don't come back to Maryland to work.I like it that way. And I promise not to delete anyone else's comment ever again
177 agree | 188 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The Maryland State Board of Nursing should let LPN's do the MD degrees not just BSN on line... The Associates On-line degree program is only 12-18 months long to complete, compared to 18-24 months for the MD. And it costs half as much to acquire....Some of our dedicated nurses are moving to other states to complete MD programs. Many don't come back to Maryland to work.I like it that way. And I promise not to delete anyone else's comment ever again
185 agree | 188 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The Maryland State Board of Nursing should let LPN's do the RN Associates degrees not just BSN on line... The Associates On-line degree program is only 12-18 months long to complete. Compared to 18-24 months for BSN. And it costs half as much to acquire....Some of our dedicated nurses are moving to other states to complete programs. Many don't come back to Maryland to work.
177 agree | 183 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
If the military truly wanted to have potential recruits understand the enlistment contract it would simply reduce the entire bogus contract to the following infamous 40 words from Section C, Paragraph 9: "Laws and regulations that govern military personnel may change without notice to me. Such changes may affect my status, pay, allowances, benefits, and responsibilities as a member of the Armed Forces regardless of the provisions of this enlistment/reenlistment document." - Pat Elder
171 agree | 198 disagree
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Don said:
I tried to join up they told me I was too old. I'm 64 I think I'll file papers for age discrimination.
217 agree | 193 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Any plans in the works to overthrow the Vatican again or is that something you can't talk about?
209 agree | 184 disagree
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Diversity? said:
What diversity? The article talks only about blacks.
353 agree | 210 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Great article...My 2 kids went there and it was the best 8 yrs anyone could ask for. Both have since gone on to great jobs and both value their days at SMCM.
425 agree | 272 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Glad to see you acknowledge McDaniel College. I am a grad ( Class of "61 ) and a Trustee--and very proud to be both. George Varga
476 agree | 304 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Over the last 20 years or more "Baltimore City School System," has been under the microscope of Judge Garbish (Special Education). Morgan, Johns Hopkin, Coppin, all have had opportunities as research institutions to address this major educational problem and the poverty rate, un-employment, single mothers crime. Coppin has had its misfortunes, and attracted low quality of instructors whom are not concerned with the social economical, educational, problems that plague the Urban Inner City youth. Poverty is a key element in Baltimore City. Politicians does not give a hoot of the demographics nor the incidents of poverty across the city. The fourth count census 2000 is a clear in measuring how people live. African Americans are left out of the loop "Johns Hopkins are the main architect to disenfranchise the poor, disadvantaged. They are the major research institution in Maryland from all indications the African American community is ignored by the major players.
263 agree | 310 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Coppin State should be proud that it focuses on academics and not sports. Who cares if the baseball team lost 44 games in a year. The students who earn a degree will have more power than any hitter on a baseball diamond.
449 agree | 304 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Excellent and informative series that parents and students can use to decide on a Maryland college or university. Thanks!
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