Seven months into the Iran war, American social activist Mike Prysner has spoken with dozens of American service members looking for a way out of the military. Not one, he said, had told him they are afraid of dying.
'They're scared of killing in a war that they don't believe in,' Prysner, executive director of the Center on Conscience and War (CCW), said on Democracy Now! in March.
Prysner told MS NOW in August that the group, which helps troops apply for conscientious objector status, had worked with about 140 applicants since late February. A typical year brings roughly 50. He put the current rate at six times the norm and the highest in 25 years. Many clients have served more than a decade, he said. CCW says its applicants come from the Marines, Navy, Army, and Air Force.
Lenore Yarger has answered calls for the GI Rights Hotline at Quaker House for 25 years. She told The Nation that volume doubled in March and April, mostly over conscientious objection. Bill Galvin, who was CCW's counselling director before retiring this summer, told the magazine: 'I don't think we've ever seen anything quite like this ever.'
Minab School Strike Cited by Troops Seeking Conscientious Objector Status
Counsellors say one event is cited more than any other. On 28 February, the opening day of the war, Tomahawk cruise missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab, southern Iran. Iranian officials put the death toll at 156, including 120 children. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said in May that preliminary findings 'correlated' the strike with US forces.
On 17 September, a UN-mandated fact-finding mission said it had reasonable grounds to believe the US committed a war crime in the strike. The Pentagon did not comment on the findings and said its own inquiry is continuing. A State Department official rejected the report, saying the US gives it no credibility.
Why Military Doctors Are Filing as Conscientious Objectors
Three military doctors from the Army, Navy, and Air Force spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation.
One, a psychiatrist the magazine calls Lydia, was treating personnel from Operation Epic Fury, the US offensive against Iran. A patient who oversaw weaponry used in air strikes told her after several sessions: 'I can actually do my job now.' Lydia said, 'It occurred to me that, well, the better I am at my job, the more people might die.' She filed her application in April.
She also described meetings where superiors planned strikes, saying people in them used phrases such as 'Let's spray them all, carpet bomb, kill kill kill.'
A second psychiatrist, identified as Brett, said the Minab strike 'just lined up all the pieces into place.'
Many military doctors train through the Health Professions Scholarship Program, which pays for medical school in return for years of active-duty service. Leaving early can mean repaying those costs, and one of the three faces bills of more than $250,000 (£186,000).
How Conscientious Objector Claims Are Decided
Under US Defense Department rules, applicants must show a sincere objection to war in any form, grounded in religious, moral, or ethical belief. Opposing only this war does not qualify. A chaplain and a mental health professional interview each applicant, and an investigating officer then holds a hearing.
The military does not routinely release application figures. A 2007 Government Accountability Office report found that the military processed 425 applications from 2002 to 2006, approved 224, and averaged about seven months. The services generally try to move applicants to non-combat duties while a claim is pending, the report said.
Prysner has noted that his clients are a small share of the armed forces. 'I'm not saying there's a mass uprising of people who are filing as CO right now,' he said in March.
Really interesting new “SEND ME TO WAR” hype campaign by the guy here wearing the WAR shirt who’s sending them to a widely-unpopular disaster marked by incompetence, lies and cruelty. https://t.co/oBPxuHTmCk
— Mike Prysner (@MikePrysner) September 19, 2026
Troop Deaths Rise as Iran War Fighting Resumes
A summer ceasefire expired without a lasting deal, and US strikes on southern Iran resumed at the end of August. The Pentagon's public database listed 19 US military deaths as of 22 September, though officials told The Washington Post the true figure is higher. At a 2 March briefing, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said there would be 'no stupid rules of engagement.'
'This process could take another year,' Lydia said. 'Still, I want to be able to be on the record saying I did my best to fight against this as much as possible.'
