Velma Stewart: A mother’s story about recruitment approaches

author : Janet Blanding

by Janet Blanding

Velma Stewart’s 20-year-old son has asthma, attention deficit disorder, and he’s color-blind. But the Army wants to send him to Iraq anyway. As the unpopular illegal occupation of Iraq drags on, enlistment has slacked off, and military recruiters have had to resort to unsavory tactics to fill the ranks. The military now grants “moral waivers” for past felonies which once would have precluded an individual from military service, and medical conditions that formerly disqualified potential recruits may no longer do so. Standards about some conditions have been relaxed, and in other instances, young people are being encouraged by recruiters to hide facts that might exclude them from military service.

A disabled Army veteran herself, Velma Stewart is familiar with the system, armed with suspicion, and ready to fight for her family. When recruiters started pushing hard on her son, she pushed back. In a recent phone interview, she told me her story. Her son’s childhood was difficult, but not unusual – an absent father, money problems, medical issues. The Tacoma resident did her best in difficult circumstances.

“My son and I have suffered. I was going to church, trying to do what was right, but I had some issues. Still, I stuck by my son.” As a student, her son played on the golf team. He’s a gifted singer and actor, who also plays the drums. But he has had major health issues: He has suffered from asthma since birth.

“Later he was diagnosed with adhd (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder). From the fifth grade on, he had a lot of issues. Until he graduated from high school, there were a lot of accommodations made for him, to help him get through school.” After graduating in 2005, he got a job, but later he was laid off, probably because of issues related to the adhd.

Velma’s son began attending Tacoma Community College while living with her at home. But the situation was strained. Money was tight, and it cost $400 a month just for their car insurance. Velma’s son wanted more independence, but Velma says that her presence helped him cope with his adhd. “Living with me, I was able to keep him on track. Do this, do that, let’s go to church.” In January 2007, looking for more independence, he went to live with his father, with whom he had recently become re-acquainted. By the end of March, he was enlisted in the military, with his father’s blessing.

“In spring of 2007,” Velma relates, “my son and I went out to eat for Easter, and he told me he was thinking about the military.” He told his mother the recruiter told him he probably wouldn’t go to Iraq because he was color blind. Velma, whose own military experience made her wary, tried to talk him out of it. “I was in the Army,” Velma said, “and they lied to me. They told me I was going to be stationed in a beautiful place, and the barracks were going to be like apartments. When I got there, Fort Lewis, hundreds of women lived in an open area that was separated by shower curtains. It was called an ‘open bay.’”

Velma shared her suspicions about the Army with her son, and persuaded him to opt out.

“On April 10, 2007, he and I went down to the South Hill recruiting station in Puyallup, and he signed a “decline to enlist” form. I talked to the recruiter, and the recruiter said he could opt out. At that time, the recruiter denied that he had said Velma’s son probably wouldn’t go to Iraq. “I turned to my son and said ‘see?’”

At that point, according to Velma, she “talked to the recruiter, and the recruiter said he could opt out. He told me it was a delayed enlistment program.” Disturbed to see how determined the recruiter was to ensnare her son in the military, Velma alerted the recruiter to her son’s medical conditions.

“I told the recruiter my son has adhd and asthma, and they’re not supposed to be eligible for enlistment.”

Although the Army lowered enlistment standards with reference to both asthma and adhd in 2004, in response to its inability to enroll sufficient personnel, people with asthma persisting after the age of 13 are still excluded, unless a waiver is obtained. With regard to adhd, standards were substantially lowered in 2004; where previously it was very difficult to enlist if there was any history of add (Attention Deficit Disorder) or adhd, now recruits are acceptable as long as they have not been treated for either of these conditions within the last year. In the case of Velma’s son, however, both conditions were still present. Her son signed the “decline to enlist” papers at that point, Velma obtained a copy, and she thought he was safe.

This visit to the recruitment center was not the end, however. As he struggled to live independently and to establish his own identity, Velma’s then 19-year-old son was sometimes uncommunicative about what was going on in his life. Later she found out that he had changed his mind yet again and was enlisted. Velma received a letter from him explaining that, upon the recruiter’s advice, he had denied having asthma so that the Army would take him.

“They ended up convincing my son to not divulge the information. I feel that is wrong. “

Velma attempted to intervene, to make the military aware of her son’s medical conditions, and perhaps obtain a medical discharge for him. She contacted meps (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Seattle, as well as Maria Cantwell’s office, but the results weren’t satisfactory.

“When I found out that my son was actually going to be enlisted, I contacted the military enlistment personnel in Seattle. They referred me back to his recruiter. So I faxed a letter of complaint to the recruiting office here. They then referred me to the recruiting command in Kentucky.” Velma never received a written response from anyone she contacted.

“They just kind of passed the buck on each other.” As for Maria Cantwell, Velma received a form letter. It referenced her “letter regarding military recruiter inquiry – not recruiter misconduct inquiry. I also asked for a meeting with her, as a constituent. Let’s see if I get a meeting or not.”

With her son now stationed at Fort Lewis and on the list for deployment to Iraq, Velma’s relationship to him is strained. She hasn’t spoken to him in weeks and she is unsure whether he really wants to be in the military or not. “He implied directly to me, and in letters, that he wanted to get out.” But at other times, he presents a different story. “He did change his story. He was probably intimidated. He was afraid of some sort of disciplinary action, possibly including a dishonorable discharge. Once you get a dishonorable discharge, it can affect your entire life. It can affect your future.”

She also believes that the military is exploiting the family discord.

“They know that some of these young people are coming under duress. They know about the family problems. My son wrote to me in a letter that ‘the recruiter knew I was mad at you, Mom.’”

“As far as I’m concerned, the recruiter helped my son falsify his enlistment. My son should not be threatened with anything other than a medical or honorable discharge. “

Despite the current strain in their relationship, Velma doesn’t want to lose her son, and she is afraid of how conditions in Iraq may affect his asthma. For Velma, the bottom line is that her son is technically not eligible to be in the military, and the recruiters used unscrupulous techniques to get him to enlist anyway. “They told him not to put down all his pre-existing medical stuff, which acknowledges that there is a fault. They are allowing young people to go in under fraudulent conditions. These recruiters are like the worst kind of salesmen. We have a lemon law, but we don’t have a law against unethical recruitment practices and tactics.”

Janet Blanding is a frequent contributor to Works In Progress.