Who We Are

AMIE is a fiscal project of Veterans for Peace, San Francisco, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

We are an independent nongovernmental agency and have no ties to the government or the military.

Calls to the Hotline are free; information shared is confidential.

Most of us live in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area.  We volunteer our time to support the human beings who are in the military.  Typically, we volunteer at least two hours a week as counselors-- answering phone calls, returning phone messages, and doing follow-up calls at our office in Oakland's Fruitvale Districted.  Some of us also support the organization by doing administrative work -- co-ordination with other organizations, research, training, book-keeping, computer support, and other tasks that are vital to the organization.

Our office in the Fruitvale district of Oakland opened in September 2007. However our counselors have a great deal of experience. We have been GI Rights Counselors for between 18 months and 13 years.  Counselors come with a variety of life experiences and skills.  For example, some counselors are veterans; others have family members who are or have been in the military; many of us are parents.

For those having difficulty with the military there are few organizations a soldier can turn to that offer INFORMATION and EMPOWERMENT.  We are such an organization.

Regarding INFORMATION: We keep ourselves informed about current regulations and realities in the military and offer this information to GIs and family members free of charge.

We believe in EMPOWERMENT counseling based on a relationship between caller and counselor of peers - equals.  We offer support and confidence in the soldier's ability, often with the assistance of family members, to think clearly and come up with the best approach to the situations and issues they face.

We are part of the GI Rights Network of over 20 organizations, where calls from our national toll-free number, 877-447-4487 are routed by area code.

We have in-service trainings every two months to help keep ourselves informed, to deepen our knowledge, and to build our sense of community as GI Rights counselors. 

AMIE counselors formerly worked out of the Oakland office the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO) until late November 2006.  CCO's Oakland office is no longer engaged in either GI Rights counseling or counter-recruitment work.