Militarism goes to school

Schools are a primary site for socialization into societies that support war, and the United States is no exception. The tradition of military recruiters visiting high schools is deeply ingrained in the United States, with many schools logging visits from the military every second or third day school is in session (Harding & Kershner 2018, 326). “Military science” classes, with instructor salaries split between local school districts and the Pentagon, are now so prevalent that in 10 states one out of every three public high schools offers such instruction (Goldman et al. 2017). With the U.S. military’s presence in public schools expanding, and a leading policy think tank advocating for the establishment of yet more high school “military science” programs (Goldman et al. 2017), this special section is particularly timely. The articles in this section engage with the question of the militarization of schools and of the lives of teenagers from a different perspective, shedding light on the processes by which societies are prepared for war through the militarization of the civilian educational system. Scholarly attention to the militarization of American schools has been increasing in recent years. Drawing on fieldwork at a California high school, Abajian (2013, ii) described a pervasive ‘web of militarism’ in public schools: omnipresent military recruiters, the paramilitary Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program, and career guidance offices filled with brochures promoting the armed forces. In ‘privileging military values’ and giving military careers ‘unparalleled promotion in comparison to other postsecondary’ career paths, Abajian found that many U.S. schools effectively create a ‘school-to-military pipeline.’ These findings support the vision of U.S. military recruiting strategists. In their trade journals, planning documents, and training manuals, recruiters are urged to achieve ‘school ownership’ and to convert educational institutions into ‘forward operating bases’ from which they can more effectively launch ‘aggressive assaults’ on high school juniors – a demographic group considered by one high-ranking Marine Recruiting official to be the ‘future of the all-volunteer military’ (United States Army Recruiting Command 2006; Recruiter Journal, September 2008, 8; United States Army Recruiting Command, Chicago Recruiting Battalion 2014, 9; Long 2006, 8). The extent to which these recruitment practices rely on infiltrating schools demonstrates the ‘fragile and contingent’ nature of the armed forces in late-capitalist societies (Enloe 2015, 6). ‘Militaries,’ according to Cynthia Enloe, ‘are not automatically raised or sustained, not easily mobilized or deployed’ (6). Indeed, the work of enlisting enough