Military recruiters use computer games, sports, pop culture to attract volunteers

[thedrifter]

Military recruiters use computer games, sports, pop culture to attract volunteers




By Melanthia Mitchell
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:02 a.m. February 19, 2004

FORT LEWIS, Wash. – For Thursday's military recruiter, the stern scowl of "Uncle Sam wants you!" is increasingly a thing of the past. Instead, the Armed Forces are wooing young prospects with stuff they can relate to – online games, hot rod races, and trendy ads.

"It's just a matter of we have to stay current with the way people are used to getting information. We're like any other advertiser or any other organization that is selling something to the American public," said Douglas Smith, spokesman for Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Ky.

The military has depended on volunteer enlistments since the draft ended in 1973, putting recruitment drives largely at the mercy of trends in the economy, youth unemployment and the number of high-school graduates attending college.

Staying abreast of the times is one way to ensure a steady stream of recruits.

On one recent day at Fort Lewis, a Stryker combat team conducted an anti-terrorist training mission in which soldiers barreled through buildings in a mock-up of a city in Iraq.

A grenade filled the air with yellow smoke and the sputter of gunfire mixed with soldiers' shouts. "Down! Down!" soldiers yelled as they charged across a plaza between two buildings hiding the enemy.

The show wasn't just for the eyes of military brass. There were computer software designers watching, too.

Details of the training mission will be used in the latest version of "America's Army," the Army's online gaming tool used to show what it's like to be in an elite fighting unit. The newest version of the computer game is set for release in April and will be available at local recruiting stations.

"We're dealing with the cyberspace generation," said David Segal, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a leading military sociologist. "We're taking advantage of the things that youth find appealing."

Soldiers who participated in the Fort Lewis exercise cautioned against enlisting without serious consideration – regardless of how real the game.

"If you get shot there's no coming back. There's no 'play again,'" said Sgt. 1st Class Bernabe Quinones, 36.

Since 1999, the Army has exceeded its recruitment goals. In 2003 it surpassed its aim of 73,800 enlistments by 332. The Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps also posted numbers above their target enrollments.

Despite the growing number of American deaths in Iraq – more than 540 since military operations began – the volunteers keep coming.

Web sites, games, television commercials and recruitment officers armed with laptops – dubbed "PowerPoint rangers" among the rank and file – are some of the innovative ways the Army hopes to continue boosting its numbers.

The Army also sponsors the National Hot Rod Association, NASCAR, a basketball tournament called "Taking it to the streets," and the Army All-America Bowl – a football game featuring the country's star high school senior football players.

Military officials said there are no numbers to show if heavier marketing works. But Lt. Bill Davis said when the Navy – also a NASCAR sponsor – launched its Web site www.navy.com in 2001, it recorded 6.5 million inquiries the first year. In 2003 there were 6.8 million hits.

The Internet allows potential recruits to check out a service "without the intimidation of walking into a recruiter station," said Davis, spokesman at Navy Recruiting Command in Millington, Tenn.

The Army went one step further in using computers as a recruiting tool when it started offering free computer games in 2002.

The Army's 74,132 recruits in 2003 outnumbered the Navy's 41,075. The Air Force enlisted 37,141 last year while Marines, a smaller force, recruited 32,530.

The Army still uses traditional methods like posters, mailings and job fairs to reach people, but Segal said recent recruitment techniques show it wants to broaden its appeal.

"They've realized that somehow the collective security needs that the Army represents have to incorporate the individualistic values that are central to the American society," he said.



On the Net:

Army: www.goarmy.com/index10.htm

America's Army: www.americasarmy.com/

Navy: www.navy.com/

Air Force: www.airforce.com

Marines: www.usmc.mil/


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040219-0602-high-techrecruiters.html

The Drifter
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[thedrifter]

Even with war, teens say 'roger' to the military

By Reid R. Frazier
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, February 19, 2004



Ryan Holets knows his road through the military might lead him to Baghdad or Fallujah, but the high school junior said he would have no problem putting himself in danger.
"I'm definitely aware of it. I read a statistic that one out of four of all fighter pilots don't come back alive. I'd rather go out doing something I love than sit around and wait for something to happen," said Holets, 17, a junior at South Fayette High School.

Holets and other local high school students interested in military service say the dangers of the war in Iraq haven't cooled their desire to serve. Neither has the debate over whether the Bush administration distorted intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, nor the failure to find such weapons so far.

"You have people who say that Iraq is pointless, but I think it's better to lose 500 people (in a war) than to lose a whole city," said Holets, a cadet with the Civil Air Patrol Squadron 603, based at the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon. The Civil Air Patrol is the Air Force's uniformed civilian volunteer auxiliary but does not recruit students for the military.

Military recruiters say the more than 500 U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq since last year -- about 400 of the casualties coming since May 1 -- haven't kept them from meeting recruiting quotas back home. Nationwide, the military signs up about 184,000 recruits a year to maintain an active-duty force of 1.4 million around the globe.

Allison Coleman, a senior at Penn Hills High School who will join the Naval ROTC at Duquesne University next year, said the Iraq war has made her more willing to join the military.

"I believe in everything we're doing. What's going on in Iraq is everything this country stands for," said Coleman, 17, a cadet with her school's Naval Junior ROTC.

The questions surrounding weapons of mass destruction haven't weighed on the desire of Ryan McCoy, 15, of Brookline, to join the military once his high school days are up.

"Whether this war was justified or not doesn't mean wars in the future are going to be justified or not. Either way, I'll be just as willing to give my life to my country," said McCoy, a 10th-grader at Keystone Oaks High School who is a cadet with the Civil Air Patrol Squadron 603.

Sgt. Mike Wiener, a Marine Corps spokesman based in Pittsburgh, said a recruit's decision to enlist isn't affected much by peacetime or wartime.

"They're doing it because they want to be a Marine," he said.

After missing its recruiting quotas during the boom years of the late '90s, the military has met its quotas every year since 2000, said Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a Department of Defense spokeswoman.

Staff Sgt. Todd Putnam, a local Marine recruiter, said the war in Iraq hasn't hindered his efforts, which include visits to local high schools and interviews with Marine Corps hopefuls.

"There's always a few that say, 'Hey, I don't want to go on the front line.' I try to get them to understand that not every Marine fights on the front line. At the same time, I tell them I can't promise they will be sent to fight, and I can't promise they won't," Putnam said.

Putnam, who is based in the Robinson armed forces recruiting substation, said he generally tries to recruit evenly between high school seniors and those who have completed high school.

Putnam said he has recruited men up to age 29. The cutoff age for Marines is 32.

Although fewer than 10 percent of local high school graduates go to the military, interest in the armed services hasn't wavered much, according to guidance counselors at several high schools.

Tony Indovina, guidance counselor at Shaler Area High School, said his experience as a Vietnam War veteran makes him emphasize to students what kinds of sacrifices the military expects if they join.

"I ask them to understand that the primary mission, apart from the career opportunities and educational benefits, is to prepare for combat, and that they make sure (they're) comfortable with all that before joining," Indovina said.

Indovina said students' families are key to helping them make their decision.

Kevin Van Shura, a guidance counselor at Montour High School, said the media play a large role in shaping students' opinions of the military, particularly since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"I think it's the media glorification of the uniform, without the educational understanding for what it's all about," said Van Shura, who encourages his students to explore all the pros and cons of signing on with the military.

Leighann Mills, 18, of Reserve, said she decided to look into the military after seeing a TV commercial for the Navy last summer.

Mills, who will ship out for boot camp in August, said she knows the risks of joining the Air Force, which she preferred to the Navy.

"It's a little scary to think you might not be coming back, but so many people have defended our country before us," said Mills, a senior at Shaler Area High School.

James Marable, a senior at Penn Hills High School, said several uncles who served in the military helped him decide to put off joining the Navy until after college.

Marable, a 19-year-old cadet with his high school's Naval Junior ROTC program, said if called on to fight, he would do it.

"That's always a risk. If that does happen, I'm going to prepare myself now to get ready for it."


Reid R. Frazier can be reached at rfrazier@tribweb.com or (724) 779-7114.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/tribnorth/news/s_180040.html

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