Click for a free download
of this amazing book

Military Recruiting in the United States, a book by Pat Elder, provides a fearless and penetrating description of the deceptive practices of the U.S. military as it recruits American youth into the armed forces. The long-time antiwar activist exposes the underworld of American military recruiting in this explosive and consequential book. The book describes how recruiters manage to convince youth to enlist. It details a sophisticated psy-ops campaign directed at children.
Elder describes how the military encourages first-person shooter games and places firearms into the hands of thousands using the schools, its JROTC programs, and the Civilian Marksmanship Program to inculcate youth with a reverence for guns. Previously unpublished investigative work reveals how indoor shooting ranges in schools are threatening the health of children and school staff through exposure to lead particulate matter.
The book examines the disturbing, nurturing role of the Catholic Church in recruiting youth. It surveys the wholesale military censorship of Hollywood films, pervasive military testing in the high schools, and an explosion of military programs directed toward youth. The book is a Truth Out Progressive Pick.
===============================================================================
Elder describes how the military encourages first-person shooter games and places firearms into the hands of thousands using the schools, its JROTC programs, and the Civilian Marksmanship Program to inculcate youth with a reverence for guns. Previously unpublished investigative work reveals how indoor shooting ranges in schools are threatening the health of children and school staff through exposure to lead particulate matter.
The book examines the disturbing, nurturing role of the Catholic Church in recruiting youth. It surveys the wholesale military censorship of Hollywood films, pervasive military testing in the high schools, and an explosion of military programs directed toward youth. The book is a Truth Out Progressive Pick.
===============================================================================

"If our culture better understood the truths in this book, the GI Rights Hotline would get fewer calls from military personnel in crisis." - Bill Galvin, Counseling Coordinator, Center on Conscience & War and counselor and board member, the GI Rights Hotline
===============================
===============================

Pat Elder’s knowledge and passion in protecting students from the predatory tactics of military recruiters is long and consistent. He led the effort in Maryland to pass a law regarding the administration of the Armed Serves Vocational Aptitude Battery, (ASVAB) in the state’s schools. The law provides for parental consent for the military to use test results for recruiting purposes. Additionally, his work has caused schools across the country to take steps to protect student privacy from the military. Having Pat's wisdom and expertise in one book is welcome. - Lynn and Stephen Newsom, Directors, Quaker House Military Counseling Center
![]() Pat Elder has long been in the forefront of protecting student privacy and student civil liberties. Meticulously researched, his book will give students, families, educators, and advocates the tools to understand their rights and obligations when it comes to military recruitment and to defend their rights against overly-aggressive military recruiting. - Beth Haroules, Senior Staff Attorney, New York Civil Liberties Union
|
![]() This eye-opening book presents us with a clear portrait of a poorly understood problem: the threat to our young people posed by aggressive and deceptive military recruiting. Then it hands us a top-of-the-line tool kit for remedying the situation and, oh by the way, in the process, putting an end to endless wars. - David Swanson, author of War is a Lie
|

Long- time counter-recruitment activist, Pat Elder's Military Recruiting in the United States, provides an important resource to educate the broader activist community and general public on the need to become involved in the efforts to demilitarize our public schools.
The National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth
==========================================================

For well over a decade, the US counter-recruitment movement has had a true champion and leader in the form of Pat Elder. Through his tireless work in this field, Pat has created new ways for parents and peace activists to protect children from those who are taught to become the “dominant force” in high schools: military recruiters.
Seth Kershner, co-author (with Scott Harding) of Counter-Recruitment and the Campaign to Demilitarize Public Schools (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015)
==========================================

"Military Recruiting in the United States describes how recruiters purposefully hide the costs of war to the individual and society, including mental and physical trauma, emotional disorders andsuicides. Recruiters hide that one in three women will be sexually assaulted by fellow service members during their short time in the military. Child soldiers are not just in Somalia, Sudan or Sierra Leone but here in the U.S., as Pat Elder points out with the hundreds of millions of dollars used to recruit young kids into junior ROTC." Colonel (ret.) Ann Wright, co-author of Dissent: Voices of Conscience
======================================

Military Recruiting in the United States details the need for countering the military’s presence in schools. The book brings the aggressive role of military recruiters to light. As a guidebook, it is written for those of us who desire a peaceful future for our children without military influence in their lives. With careful research and extensive experience, Pat Elder details step by step actions to counter the hype and methods of military recruiters.
Barbara Harris, New York Coalition to Protect Student Privacy
Militarism, like racism, is more dangerous when hidden behind patriotism and policy. Pat Elder exposes the many ways our public schools and the Department of Education collaborate to serve the needs of the Department of Defense and suggests ways to prevent the predatory quest for students to fight wars.
Kathy Barker, Assistant Professor of Health Services, University of Washington
“Aggressive military recruitment in our schools is a dark and dirty
secret, ensnaring some of our most vulnerable students in a web of
high pressure sales tactics to compel them to join the military. But
communities can and should stand up for their students. Start by
reading this book.”
Sue Udry, Executive Director, Defending Rights & Dissent
Rage, Flower Thrower by the artist Banksy
Pat Elder has been one of the leading antiwar voices in the United States for many years. His new book spells out in one resource how military service can be disastrous for a soldier’s mental and physical health. Elder argues that “cigarette packages come with warning labels; so too, should military recruitment pitches.” Elder’s book should be required reading in all America’s high schools.
Mark Goldstone, a noted First Amendment lawyer who defended Pat Elder following his antiwar civil disobedience actions.
Barbara Harris, New York Coalition to Protect Student Privacy
Militarism, like racism, is more dangerous when hidden behind patriotism and policy. Pat Elder exposes the many ways our public schools and the Department of Education collaborate to serve the needs of the Department of Defense and suggests ways to prevent the predatory quest for students to fight wars.
Kathy Barker, Assistant Professor of Health Services, University of Washington
“Aggressive military recruitment in our schools is a dark and dirty
secret, ensnaring some of our most vulnerable students in a web of
high pressure sales tactics to compel them to join the military. But
communities can and should stand up for their students. Start by
reading this book.”
Sue Udry, Executive Director, Defending Rights & Dissent
Rage, Flower Thrower by the artist Banksy
Pat Elder has been one of the leading antiwar voices in the United States for many years. His new book spells out in one resource how military service can be disastrous for a soldier’s mental and physical health. Elder argues that “cigarette packages come with warning labels; so too, should military recruitment pitches.” Elder’s book should be required reading in all America’s high schools.
Mark Goldstone, a noted First Amendment lawyer who defended Pat Elder following his antiwar civil disobedience actions.