PPS students will now have access to a different take on military recruitment.

On October 24th, the school board voted unanimously to allow non-military recruiters to visit high school campuses just like military recruiters following a similar decision in Seattle.

A recruitment visit works much the same as a college visit. A representative of the organization, be it the Army or AmeriCorps, is scheduled to visit, and students who are interested sign up in the office. At the visit, recruiters present information, answer questions, and provide resources like pamphlets and contact information for students seeking more information.

Counter-recruiters provide students with information about non-military post-graduation service opportunities like AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, and try to counteract any alleged misinformation spread by military recruiters.

“It would just be equal to let them both visit,” junior Teal Bluestone told us. “Personally, I feel pretty anti-war, but that’s not what this is really about. In this case I just think it needs to be fair.”

This idea of equal access to information is what drove the school board to unanimity in their vote, but some Portlanders worry that this decision may carry unseen consequences.

“Whether you support it or not, the military expects to recruit a certain amount of people per month or per year,” Westside Christian High School student Matthew Staropoli said. “No matter what, there’s going to be some kind of backlash if those numbers are affected by counter-recruiters,”

But as far as PPS is concerned, Staropoli’s classmate Garrick Kalmeta isn’t worried.

“I don’t see this having an effect on Portland’s [military] recruitment numbers because I don’t think they ever expected many recruits from here,” Kalmeta told us.

“In, say, the Midwest, the military is more established culturally and historically, so that’s where they’re really looking to get recruits. But if this starts a domino effect and bigger recruitment states make similar decisions, military recruitment offices could actually feel threatened.”

Kalmeta and Staropoli fear that this decline in military recruitment could actually lead to even less popular measures.

“To beat the new competition, military recruiters could further exaggerate opportunities, like ‘I could get you flying planes in two years,’ which isn’t fair to the recruits if there’s no basis to the promise,” Staropoli said.

“The military has to get people from somewhere; if you damage recruitment, you risk fighting dirty. If you kill recruitment, you risk increasing security contracting, or bringing back the draft,” Kalmeta added. “I want this to stay clean; it shouldn’t become polarized like politics.”

Whether or not this is a perfect solution, junior Sam Olson thinks “this is a step in the right direction.” Olson stated, “Without nonviolent opportunities, students could be misinformed, or led to believe that military service was their best or only opportunity to serve.”

Staropoli warned about this glorification. “Sure, both sides are technically there to provide information to students,” Staropoli said. “But both sides will only say the best things about their organizations. Whether they say it outright or not, military recruiters will always send a clear ‘join the military’ message and vice versa.”

To really tackle the “glorification factor,” Bluestone thinks that avoiding competition is key. “If counter-recruiters want to be effective and fair, they just have to be careful, they have to make sure they stay true to what they are, because it’s really easy to stray from that and get caught up in opposing the military.”

Staropoli warns against allowing tension to grow between the recruiters and counter-recruiters. “I don’t really like how it’s been titled the recruiters and counter recruiters.” Staropoli said. “They’re recruiters; they’re both recruiting. Polarizing it isn’t going to help anyone; look at political parties.”

Kalmeta agrees. “The counter recruiters should present ‘Option B,’ not a rebuttal, not a replacement, but an alternative,” Kalmeta concluded. “As long as that happens, this is a good move for everyone.”