‘Discrimination’ by the military

I just sent this message out on HEM-Networking concerning ‘discrimination’ in light of what I’ve read in Army enlistment regulation, and what I just read today in the Navy manual.

• About.com has the manual: http://usmilitary.about.com/library/pdf/navrecruit.pdf It’s a big file, so if you don’t need it, and you’ve got a ‘smaller’ computer, don’t click.

  If your computer can handle a big PDF file, and you’re curious, the PDF pages in question are 79 – 84, 151 – 152, 174 and 423.

  The ‘homeschool specific’ portion is on PDF pages 83 – 84. I was surprised to see HSLDA’s URL in the reg. as the go-to place for state legal information.

  In discussions about the _why_ of this Section 522 legislation in the Nat. Def. Auth. Act., ‘discrimination’ keeps coming up. It doesn’t seem to be ‘fair’ to ask homeschoolers to document their educations. On the face of it, that does seem to be a bit discriminatory, but the regs. say that we aren’t the only ones. The military ‘discriminates’ against _everyone_. I’m surprised anyone qualifies anymore.

  The Army reg, http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r601_210.pdf , has 12 pages of "eligibility requirements" (use Ctrl+F to search — much easier that way).

  The Navy, come to find out, is far fussier. Even if someone goes to school, if the school isn’t the ‘right’ kind, the person may not be awarded the Tier I status that has been the alleged problem for homeschoolers.

  PDF page 149 has an inspection sheet for schools so that it can be determined just how this school teaches.
  ===========================================
  1. Does this institution have multiple tracks (i.e., GED, Adult Ed., ABE, ESL, correspondence, competency-based, independent study)?
  2. Does this institution award credit for GED or GED preparation?
  3. Does this institution award credit for life experience, home study, or practical competencies?
  4. Does this institution conduct regular classes and require classroom attendance?
  5. Does this institution provide teacher-directed (i.e., lecture, computer assisted, self-paced, or modular unit) classroom instruction?
  6. Does this institution provide transcripts and award diplomas?

  Guidelines for determining school or program tier-level classification:
  – If questions 1 through 3 are no and questions 4 through 6 are yes, then Tier I
  – If no to any of questions 4 through 6, then Tier II
  – If yes to any questions 1 through 3 and yes to questions 4 through 6, then a case-by-case evaluation of each applicant is required.
  NOTE: Any school or program whose primary purpose is to provide individuals with an education credential to enter the military will be classified as Tier III
  ===========================================

  Homeschoolers are not singled out concerning the documentation of their educations.

  Which leads me to another thought.

  _If_ this language gets into law, what happens when these otherschoolers, who are also ‘discriminated’ against, get wind of it? If the services are required to accept homeschoolers as Tier I candidates, where _does_ that leave the otherschoolers? And how many of them will contact lawyers for a class action suit against the services? And will this go to the Supreme Court?

  If that happens, we’ll be popular kids on the block, won’t we.

This entry was posted on December 7, 2005 at 2:35 pm and is filed under News-Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.