Masters of war push to militarise schools

Vanguard March 2010 p. 5

Nick G

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

So began Bob Dylan’s 1963 song directed at the military-industrial complex of US imperialism.

It was a song whose rejection of militarism was characteristic of the sixties generation, and of an era which ultimately saw the removal of school cadets from
Australian high schools.

In the wake of its setbacks in the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions, US imperialism is tightening its controls over the education sector. In its own homeland, the process has accelerated with the elevation of former Chicago schools boss Arne Duncan to the position of Obama’s Education Secretary.

Duncan’s legacy in the Chicago public schools system is largely one of privatising schools by handing them over to charter schools operators.

However the second major part of his time there was spent putting the US military back into schools.

“Chicago's school system is currently the most militarised in the country,” wrote one observer, “boasting five military academies, nearly three dozen smaller Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps programs within existing high schools, and numerous middle school Junior ROTC programs. More troubling yet, the military academies he's started are nearly all located in low-income, minority neighborhoods. This merging of military training and education naturally raises concerns about whether such academies will be not just education centers, but recruitment centers as well. “

On February 17, the Adelaide Advertiser ran a bold headline reading “Schools double as defence academies”.

It was reporting a joint media release by Greg Combet, Federal Minister for Defence and Jane Lomax-Smith, SA Minister for Education identifying three SA high schools as having been chosen to “lead a new $5.7 million program that will prepare young South Australians for jobs in the defence industry”.

One of the three schools was named two years ago as the partner to US imperialist military corporation Raytheon in a major sponsorship deal that provides Raytheon with access to students in the school’s specialist gifted and talented program.

The three lead schools in the new initiative will be required to develop curriculum in the areas of maths, science and technology that serves the needs of the burgeoning military sector in South Australia.

It is planned to identify a further five partner schools by mid-year.

The decision was timed to coincide with the visit of US Deputy Defence Secretary Bill Lynn, visiting Adelaide to inspect a new naval repair base featuring the largest ship lift in the southern hemisphere. Lynn was clearly interested in the use of the facility by the US imperialist Pacific Fleet, the largest in their Navy. Those ships are currently serviced and maintained in Singapore and Japan.
Meanwhile, more than 100 German troops were bashing the bush around Woomera, test-driving their Boxer armoured vehicle, Weisel reconnaissance vehicle and Mikado aerial surveillance drone.

Live rounds are being used as part of establishing the vehicles’ suitability for use against the people of Afghanistan.

Australians need to firmly reject the militarisation of schools and their curriculum.

US and other foreign military forces have no place on Australian soil.