At the end of January and early February, there has been a flurry of reporting on issues related to the living conditions faced by active military participants. Promises are being made to the press and to Congress, but it is clear that these are long-standing issues that have been ignored or “solved” with window-dressing only. (photo from Department of Defense) More than a year ago, in December 2022, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense released a report that said that a major factor in unsafe conditions in military housing came from the sheer inability of the military to track ..read more

At the end of November, we reported on the continuing concerns about extremism in the military. Shortly afterwards, a new report was released that updated numbers on recent actions by veterans or active participants. In fiscal year 2023 there were nearly 200 allegations of “acts of extremism” that included 78 accused of advocating the overthrow of the US government and 44 more engaging in terrorism. The 2023 numbers were an increase over those of 2022, but still nearly 100 fewer than seen in 2021. Only 68 of the alleged acts were subsequently cleared or dismissed, leaving more than 100 open ca ..read more

While many of us were still digesting our Thanksgiving meals, the Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota was being criticized for telling airmen not to attend the political rally of an extremist group called Turning Point Action. While it isn’t clear how official the message sent on Facebook was, it is the most recent example of the difficulty the military has on responding to extremist views. Illustration by Elize McKelvey for Military.com This isn’t a new issue by any means. While many seem to think that the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 brought an end to violent extremism, it hasn’t gone aw ..read more

The US military ended Fiscal Year 2023 on September 30 with nearly every branch reporting large lapses in their recruiting efforts. (U.S. Army photo by Jazika Levario) Missing Soldiers and Sailors Navy: 7,450 missing enlisted sailors Army: 11,000 missing enlisted soldiers Air Force: 2,777 missing enlisted airmen Space Force: 65 more than goal of 537 Marines: 351 more than goal of 39,153 Their failures to lure people into the military are despite numerous new efforts. The Navy has reduced their standards for performance on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, claiming that it wouldn’t make th ..read more

Margie had her share of Quaker prudence and economy. She had worn her old bonnet so long that neighbors offered to get a new one for her. They asked if she would prefer straw or silk as a material. “Well,” Margie replied, “since you insist on giving me a bonnet, I think I’ll take a straw one. It will just manage to be a mouthful for the cow when I’m through with it ..read more

Lenore Yarger, GI Rights Counselor In the fall of 2000, Steve and I offered to volunteer with Quaker House as counselors on the GI Rights Hotline. We traveled to Fayetteville for a half-day “counselor boot camp” led by Alex Doty of CCCO. He gave us a brief overview of what counseling entails and life in the US military. By the end of the day, we knew how to get someone out of the delayed entry program, which is that time between when someone signs their military contract and when they report to basic training. Friends Peace Teams program at Quaker House Our next training session was with Phi ..read more

Every time I talk about the work and mission of Quaker House, I focus on the meaning of “say yes to the troops, no to the war” in 2023. It means we have a responsibility to every person suffering because of our nation’s military-industrial complex. It means providing the support and counseling that Lenore and Steve give to callers to the GI Rights Hotline. It means Joanna’s work with people suffering from the damage of substance abuse, PTSD, sexual and domestic violence, and moral injury. It also means finding ways to address deeper issues like poisoning that takes 20 years to become manifest ..read more

The Holding the Line section is going to be a way for us to share brief information about the new and the ongoing challenges faced by military participants and their families. We plan to begin doing short blurbs once or twice a month online and will include highlights of these in the printed newsletters going forward. If you don’t already receive electronic notices from Quaker House in your email or social media, use the resources on the back page to connect with us. Domestic Violence Epidemic: the DOD is still evading and foot-dragging to avoid writing a standardized definition of sexual assa ..read more

I originally was planning to write an article about the fact that more military participants are joining later in life, and that is an important topic given to what we see as stressors and therapy needs. Then a relative sent me this article about a shooting spree involving a military family that took place in South Carolina recently. This is not the first domestic incident involving guns, military participants, and the deaths of family members. In 2018, a good friend of mine witnessed this when his cousin and her two children were killed by their father, an active-duty participant. He then tur ..read more

The story is a familiar one: A Marine had been suffering from anxiety and depression, and no one was helping him. When his condition continued to decline, he left training without permission (called unauthorized absence in the Marine Corps). Two months later he called us about surrendering. We told him that normally this length of absence would signal to the command that he would never be a Marine they could rely on, and typically they would discharge people in his situation. In this case, when the Marine turned himself in, he was sent back to restart his training. Another person called after ..read more