Should You Apply?

There is little or no hard information on maltreatment of COs whose cases never got to court. Reports from counselors throughout the United States indicate that physical abuse of COs, while it did happen, was rare. The most common problem for Gulf War COs was being turned away because of the "Stop-Loss" provisions. Other forms of petty harassment, like "losing" pay records or writing COs up for petty or nonexistent offenses, were less common than COs feared, though they did occur in some cases. COs in peacetime, however, also encounter this kind of harassment. Your best defense is to know your rights and to make sure you have outside civilian support. For more discussion of harassment, see Resisting the Military.

The Gulf War experience doesn't give much clue as to what might happen in your case in a future war. You should, however, consider applying for a lot of reasons. When you seek Congressional intervention, the fact that you applied or tried to apply will show that it is the military and not you who is failing to follow the rules. And if you decide to go public, you will get a more sympathetic hearing if you can show that you've tried everything and the military has just refused to listen.

The primary reason why you should consider applying, however, is that if you don't apply, you will have no chance whatever of getting a CO discharge. The military won't conclude that you are a CO and offer you a discharge. You have to take the initiative. And if you don't apply, you won't have very strong grounds for going to federal court--if you have any case at all. If you want to fight your case in court, you must first use the remedies that are available. That includes applying for CO status.

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