Foreword

This edition of Advice for Conscientious Objectors in the Armed Forces builds upon a tradition which began in 1970 with the First Edition. Advice has since reached over 40,000 military men and women who had decided that they could no longer in good conscience remain in the military.

The 1970 Advice spoke to a generation troubled by the war in Vietnam. This generation of conscientious objectors, too, has seen war--most recently in the Persian Gulf, and before that in Panama. It has experienced the end of the Cold War and the flowering of hopes for peace; and it has watched as those hopes turned to disappointment in the chaotic, dangerous post-Cold War world.

The US military has changed since 1970. It has become smaller, yet in many ways more destructive. It remains the most powerful on earth, and its essential mission--to make war--has not altered. As long as that mission remains, as it must do if the US military is not abolished, conscientious objectors in the military will face complex and exacting choices. This book is designed to help with those choices.

Readers of previous Editions will notice a number of changes in this edition. Material on thinking about conscientious objection, including new chapters on Hitler and on modern warfare, is now grouped with material on preparing a CO claim. This reflects our belief that one cannot prepare a good CO claim without thinking about what it means to be a conscientious objector. A new appendix discusses the events of the Gulf War and how to guard against a repetition. It is important that COs be aware that things will be different and unpredictable in a mobilization--and that they take steps to protect themselves.

Few books are the product entirely of one mind, and certainly not this one. Many people helped in its creation. James Feldman, Jr., and Peter Goldberger gave invaluable help with the chapters on resistance in the military and the material on habeas corpus; they also reviewed the other chapters and made many helpful suggestions. CCCO staff, particularly Sam Diener, Alex Doty, Karen Jewett, Carlos Lezama, Terry Kessel, and Bill Galvin, reviewed the manuscript and galleys. I am grateful for their many thoughtful suggestions. Jim Crichton, formerly Director of Friends Military Counseling, provided invaluable insights into the military CO procedures; nearly all of them are incorporated into the text. Anne Toensmeier proofread several drafts. The Anna H. and Elizabeth M. Chace Fund provided a grant to cover the cost of printing. Finally, this book would have been impossible without the work of previous editors Mike Wittels and Jerry Kinchy. Thanks to all of these people, and to others whom I may inadvertently have omitted.

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