Military recruiters deserve same access as others

To the editor:

In response to the article "Educators offer way to avoid recruiters": This comes down to should military recruiters have the same access to potential applicants as colleges. Having spent three years as a recruiter for the Navy in Western Kentucky, it was frustrating at times not to be able to contact potential applicants, but local colleges and trade schools could.

I understand parents being concerned with harassment from recruiters. However, based on experience, if a student tells the recruiter he or she isn't interested, the phone calls should stop. If a student told me that he or she planned on going to college or had a job lined up, I would make a note of that information and follow up in a year or so to see if things were going as planned.

The article didn't mention any complaints about letters being sent from colleges or trade schools. If you don't want to read the information, throw it away, I would give this bit of advice: Listen to what the recruiter has to say or read the information in the mail. It can't hurt. If a student needs funding for college, the military has excellent funding programs.

Recruiters or the military are doing the same job as recruiters for other institutions or companies. They are trying to find the best person . They just want the same deal as other institutions.

TOM GILMER

Kingsland, Ga.