Alternatives to Military Service

Alternatives to Military Service seeks to dispel the myth that you need to join the military to pay your way through college.

We show the downsides of trusting in the GI Bill and share information on local and national resources for scholarships and other educational opportunities.

VOLUNTEER TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Want to join the WPJC's volunteer body, meet our new volunteer coordinator and share nonviolent career options with the youth of Whatcom County?

Please join us for our Quarterly AMS Volunteer trainings! Our upcoming training will be held in October at the WPJC Office. This is a great opportunity to engage local youth and veterans in a conversations about our future, our rights and non-violence.

If you can't make it to the training session, but have availability to volunteer please email Aneesa Ahad at [email protected] to get involved! Attending to a training before tabling is mandatory.

Considering enlisting?

Realities of military promises and war

Many of the details about enlistment are not well explained to people considering joining the military.

Recruiters may not explain the specifics of the enlistment agreement, the possibility of recruiter fraud, the limitations of college funding available through the military, and the problems faced by veterans when they leave the armed forces.

It is important to learn all you can before you join.

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU ENLIST

Nonviolent career and educational alternatives

Check out this list of ways to earn money for college, and acquire work experience along the way

Conscientious objection

If you are required to register for the Selective Service (draft) and you feel conscientiously opposed to doing so, you can claim conscientious objector (C.O.) status.

This process requires that you keep a file of records demonstrating your opposition.

HOW TO BECOME A C.O.

Opt-out of military recruitment

Under the 2001 “No Child Left Behind” law, all public high schools must provide their students' names, home phone numbers, and home addresses to military recruiters, or lose federal funding.

Sign the opt-out form and send it to your child’s high school. Families have a right under the “No Child Left Behind” law to prohibit the release of personal information for military recruitment purposes.

GET THE OPT-OUT FORM

Tabling in schools

The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center has been offering high school youth this vital information since 2002. Veterans and other volunteers table one to four times per semester in each of Whatcom County’s public high schools to give our high school youth options. WPJC worked with the Bellingham School District to implement an “equal access” policy for WPJC and the military. Thanks to this partnership, high school students get exposed to enriching, exciting, and nonviolent opportunities for their futures.