U.S. Army Recruiting is hoping to ramp up its appeal to the youth of America — and what better way to do that than release an absolute banger?
After falling short of its recruiting goals in 2018, the Army hopes to bolster this year’s turnout by refocusing its efforts on 22 cities that are traditionally not popular recruiting sites. The new video touches on the educational, personal, and financial opportunities available in the Army, and reiterates that there’s “more to a soldier than just taking orders.”
“Music is a powerful communication tool,” Army Recruiting Command spokeswoman Lisa Ferguson told Task & Purpose in a statement. “Army leaders wanted to see if a command-sponsored video with a coordinated release could impact awareness and the Army recruiting effort.”
Sgt. 1st Class Arlondo Sutton of the Army’s Atlanta Recruiting Battalion, teamed up with Sgt. 1st Class Jason Locke of the Houston Recruiting Battalion to write and produce the video. It was filmed at Fort Benning in December with the help of combat cameramen from the 335th Signal Command.
Commander of Army Recruiting Command, Gen. Stephen Townsend, said while the video isn’t exactly his style, he thinks it could be the kind of message the Army has been looking for, Military.com reported.
“That kind of presentation doesn’t resonate with me; it doesn’t have to resonate with me. It has to resonate with the 17-to-24-year-olds, and we believe it will,” Townsend said.