An Army of one

The Army’s new recruiting slogan, “An Army of one,” is raising more than just military eyebrows. While military campaigns are the stuff of generals, their advertising campaigns usually come straight from the Madison Avenue boyz. Yes, the same guys that are penning pitches for beer, SUV’s, and winged panty liners are also selling military branches.

It’s proving to be a tough sell these days, for a number of reasons, although the reasons are rooted firmly in the psyches of adolescents (the target market) and therefore tough for analysts to really fathom.

Still, the robust economy is certainly one factor. The economics of opportunity cost are easy to spot here; serving a hitch in the service “costs” more when there are good paying civilian jobs that are consequently passed up. But this factor certainly doesn’t apply to the Commonwealth, what with our rotten economy. For a lot of kids, the military may prove to be the only ticket out of here.

But economics isn’t the only factor, of course, and this is where things get tangled. In cold war days, the specter of keeping a commie from mommy had an air of chivalry about it, and lots of us signed up to keep the great Russian bear at bay. Ok, so maybe we were duped, but it had an element of fun about it and it usually beat having to hold down a real job.

But times have changed. The great cold war scare has given way to the treacherous realities of global realpolitik. As for me, I would want no part of terrorizing peasants and bullying paupers in far off lands I know nothing about, but I doubt that this perspective is what’s keeping most youth clad in Gap wear and out of uniform.

And then we have the substantial changes made in the military itself. Every so often the military has to be tweaked a bit, and brought somewhat into line with social reality. It’s that nebulous “somewhat” that catches us off guard. How much is too much? The very odd brand of social engineering that the military’s been subjected to over the past few years must be a deterrent to anyone who harbored a true yen for things military. If you keep an ear to the rail about such things, you’ll know that dissension and dismay are rife within the ranks.

In the meantime, some of the best minds both within and without the military are working overtime to try to keep the sales pitch targeted effectively. When it comes right down to it, marketing and military talk are remarkably similar. You’ve got to defend your turf from the enemy at all costs. Target your assets. Consolidate your gains. Plan well strategically, and react quickly tactically. Wage campaigns. And so on…

I remember the Navy’s slogan when I was in, “The Navy: It’s not just a job. It’s an adventure.”

Somebody hung such a poster up in the Flight Ops office, and improved the wording with a fat, black magic marker: “The Navy: It’s not a job. I could quit a job.”

Well put, eh? Maybe the Army should hire this guy for its new campaign.

Ed Stephens, Jr. is an economist and columnist for the Saipan Tribune. “Ed4Saipan@yahoo.com”