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Explorers Program Reveals the Insidious Acceptance of Militarism as a Defining Aspect of American Society
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by Polly Mann, W A M M
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Even those of us most preoccupied and absorbed with militarism sometimes overlook what is most obvious.
Dressed in army camouflage and holding guns, the five short-haired young men are crouched below the windows of a “hijacked” bus marked “Homeland Security” followed by the words “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” commonly termed ICE. This photograph and an accompanying article occupy three-fourths of the upper half of Page 1 of The New York Times on Thursday, May 14, 2009. But that’s not all. The story continues on to the upper half of Page 21 with three more large photographs that include a young woman, Cathy Noriego, who is quoted as saying she likes to use guns. “I like shooting them. I like the sound they make. It gets me excited.”
But these are not troops engaged in protecting the country from a Mexican invasion. Rather, they are eight teenage boys and girls engaged in a training exercise of the Explorers program of the Boy Scouts of America. Their concocted training can consist of chasing illegal border crossers, raiding marijuana fields, or facing down so-called “terrorists.” Law enforcement officials who have helped shape the program see it as preparing the Explorers as potential employees. Explorer posts are attached to various agencies, including the F.B.I., and local police and fire departments. Their training involves actions around situations law enforcement officers believe they may face, such as rescuing hostages from a bus taken over by terrorists. In one situation a role-player was garbed in traditional Arab dress. April McKee, a senior Border Patrol agent, said the end goal of the program was to “create more agents.”
Sheriff’s Deputy A. J. Lowenthal, from Imperial County, California, abutting the Mexican border, who runs the program described in the article, says “it fits right in with the honor and bravery of the Boy Scouts.” The founder of the Scouts would have agreed. In 1907–08 General Robert Baden-Powell, one of the few heroes of Britain’s Boer War, used the military model as a guide for boys in establishing the Scouts. The Boy Scouts of America as a separate entity was founded in 1910 by Chicago publisher William Boyce.
Over the years there has been criticism of the militaristic style of the Boy Scouts as evidenced by their military style uniforms, badges of rank, flag ceremonies, and brass bands. Boy Scout events have been held on military bases. In July of 2005 the U.S. Senate voted to allow U.S. military bases to continue hosting Boy Scout events, responding to lawsuits and a federal court ruling aimed at severing relationships between the government and the youth group.
This use of Boy Scouts described in the article, which some might term “exploitation,” could provoke examination and possible action by two WAMM committees: the Middle East Committee and the Media Committee. There is no question but that one of the events used as a training exercise by the Explorers could be criticized for inculcating racism in that a role-player wore traditional Arab clothing. Arabs have become almost a synonym for terrorists in the U.S. today, and to reinforce this stereotype could be termed racist. The Middle East Committee of WAMM might write letters about the situation to the national and Imperial County leaders of the Boy Scouts, to the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the FBI, and California political leaders. Further action would depend upon what the letters brought forth.
The Media Committee of WAMM might contact Imperial County newspapers, and radio and television stations, including even The New York Times, which by publishing such an article encourages similar Boy Scout programs. To claim that to deny publishing the article for such a reason would indicate a form of self-censorship that the Times would be exercising is true. But it is also true that the Times does exercise such censorship daily in its choice of articles selected for publication.
There is, however, one important issue brought forth in the article that is not the special purview of any WAMM committee, and that is immigration. The issue of immigration in this country is enormous. Often it is U.S. policy abroad that creates immigrants, and this is seldom ever discussed. The North American Free Trade Agreement in its devastating effect upon the economy of Mexico produced desperation among Mexicans. Often they have come to the United State
s not because they would prefer to live here, but because there is no work in their country of origin.
What would be the purpose of an Immigration Committee? As is usual in WAMM, the committee itself would have to define that. But there is a problem: Immigration is blamed for so much more than it could possibly be responsible for. Immigrants are demonized. Xenophobia increases, as does fear. ICE raids separate and terrorize families. People who have been law-abiding all their lives experience prison for the first time. So many of us seem to have forgotten that the large majority of us come from people who were once immigrants. The only people that do not are indigenous Native Americans.
The usual method in forming a committee is possibly unique to WAMM. Neither the WAMM Board nor the staff decides that a committee is needed. A WAMM member or members simply reach a point where they say to themselves about an issue, “Enough. This situation has gone far enough. Something has to be done about it. I’m not sure what. But something.”
At the first tentative meeting, no large pieces of paper would be mounted around the walls on which the path to the solution of the problem would be penciled in. There would be no proclamation such as “Here’s the problem” followed by “Here’s the solution. Here’s where we want to end up.” The committee would figure that out as it met month after month working on the issue as it appeared to each member, Members might agree on an action one month and two months later decide it was no good. There would be disagreements, even hurt feelings, but usually the concern about the issue would win whatever the argument, and the committee would find solid ground.
There is an adage that I think best describes WAMM’s working style: “Remember, pilgrim, there is no path. The path is made by walking.” There is no blueprint detailing how an entire society is changed. So much of what we see as wrong is enormous. Massive changes are needed. How can you possibly affect something as powerful as the arms industry? The military? But we don’t have to see the rainbow at the end of that path. Some of us simply feel bound to take that path, to walk to wherever it may lead us.
The story of the Explorers highlights another issue — the militarization of our society. The New York Times article provides information about one example, but the very acceptance itself of the Explorers as an integral part of the Boy Scouts illustrates how almost any element of the society can be used to demonstrate that war itself — the ultimate result of militarization — is acceptable.
Some years ago the St. Paul St. Patrick’s Day Parade provided an example. One of the floats in the parade was a military vehicle of some sort. (My memory refuses to produce the type. It might have been a tank.) Just why the military should be represented at a St. Patrick’s Day Parade mystified me.
Another example: Educational institutions at the highest level have no quarrel with militarization. They accept money from arms manufacturers for all kinds of projects. The appearance of recruiters on campuses is of minor consequence compared to the influence of arms manufacturers.
Even those of us most preoccupied and absorbed with militarism sometimes overlook what is most obvious. Article II, Section l of the WAMM by-laws gives the purpose of WAMM as “to educate and alert women and men about the militarism of the United States government,” with four criteria: the possibility of nuclear and conventional war; the steadily increasing military budget; U.S. military intervention abroad; and the curtailment and denial of vital social programs due to diversion of tax revenues to military programs. But nowhere does it list the insidious acceptance of militarism as a defining aspect of American society. This, I think, should be added to the bylaws.
From the Explorers program of the Boy Scouts to the bylaws of Women Against Military Madness is quite a leap. But not really. There is scarcely any aspect of U.S. society that is removed from militarism. The pilgrim, on recognizing this, finds no alternative but to take to the road. |
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© 2009 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete July-August 2009 Index - click here
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